Jeffrey E. Williams Sells 59,162 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.80 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.95%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after buying an additional 435,891 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after buying an additional 8,450 shares in the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 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 subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.34.

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.