Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.6% on Insider Selling

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price dropped 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $226.36 and last traded at $226.96. Approximately 8,885,263 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 58,285,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.28.

Specifically, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $227.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.47. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Apple by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. now owns 71,286 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,224,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,980 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,835 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 207,788 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,615,000 after acquiring an additional 40,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.