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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Apple Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $249.79 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $254.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $234.43 and its 200 day moving average is $225.06. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SMART Wealth LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 14,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,397,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 73,945 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,229,000 after purchasing an additional 5,231 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 5,831 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL boosted its position in Apple by 23.6% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 24,462 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,700,000 after buying an additional 4,675 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

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.