Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) COO Jeffrey E. Williams Sells 100,000 Shares

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value 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 available through this hyperlink.

Apple Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $248.05 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $254.28. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $234.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 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 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.