Timothy D. Cook Sells 223,986 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $226.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.86.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. 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 stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first 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 during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.76.

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.