Insider Selling: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CFO Sells $13,433,768.60 in Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.14. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cfra increased their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.