Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Insider Sells $1,017,654.96 in Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $272.41 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $255.92 and a 200-day moving average of $226.84. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its position in Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

About Apple

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.