Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 1.1% on Insider Selling

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $294.36 and last traded at $295.95. Approximately 41,805,550 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 47,664,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $299.24.

Specifically, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly building a new wave of products, including AI-enabled AirPods with cameras and a foldable iPhone, which supports its longer-term innovation pipeline and could open new revenue streams. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and a $380 price target on Apple, saying the company still has strong pricing power and supply-chain advantages despite higher component costs. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is being viewed as relatively well positioned to navigate the memory shortage because of its scale and inventory planning, which could help protect margins versus smaller device makers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Tim Cook said Apple will likely raise prices on some products because memory and storage chip costs are becoming “unavoidable,” which may offset costs but also raise concern about demand. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple may shift more chip manufacturing to Intel in the U.S. were not confirmed by either company, so the potential impact remains speculative for now. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The memory-chip shortage is creating cost pressure across Apple’s hardware lineup, raising the risk of margin compression if price increases do not fully offset higher input costs. Article Title

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $288.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.80. The company has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.