Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.
AAPL traded down $5.43 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $248.05. The company had a trading volume of 56,641,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,296,777. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $233.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.73. 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 cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $254.28.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.
Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.78.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.
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