Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Unloaded Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) recently sold shares of Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL. In a filing disclosed on January 08th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $15,001 and $50,000 in Apple stock on December 19th.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA on 1/6/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Lam Research NASDAQ: LRCX on 12/19/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of MetLife NYSE: MET on 11/19/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Kenvue NYSE: KVUE on 11/18/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Eli Lilly and Company NYSE: LLY on 10/30/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Starbucks NASDAQ: SBUX on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Walt Disney NYSE: DIS on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Honeywell International NASDAQ: HON on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Mastercard NYSE: MA on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Verizon Communications NYSE: VZ on 10/29/2024.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $242.70. 37,560,095 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,806,977. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $239.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.75. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 58,341 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,288,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 452,065 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $95,214,000 after acquiring an additional 14,189 shares during the period. Mainsail Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.6% during the second quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC now owns 5,352 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. now owns 72,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $15,220,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.64.

About Senator Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. He assumed office on January 3, 2007. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Rhode Island. He declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Whitehouse previously served as the Rhode Island attorney general from 1999 to 2003. Before that, he was a United States attorney from 1994 to 1998. He was nominated to the position by President Bill Clinton (D). Whitehouse was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from Rhode Island. He cast his vote for Hillary Clinton. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Whitehouse is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

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.