Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 3.6% After Insider Selling

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) traded down 3.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $191.06 and last traded at $195.82. Approximately 40,732,095 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 54,992,380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $203.19.

Specifically, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.05.

Apple Trading Down 3.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $229.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 8.4% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 12,311 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 47,498 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,551,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in Apple by 1.8% during the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 91,378 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $20,298,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 48,710 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 19,147 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.