Luca Maestri Sells 59,305 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Apple Trading Up 1.7 %

AAPL opened at $229.54 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.97.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its position in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

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.