Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Sells Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) recently sold shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). In a filing disclosed on January 08th, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $15,001 and $50,000 in Apple stock on December 19th.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) on 1/6/2025.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) on 12/19/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of MetLife (NYSE:MET) on 11/19/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) on 11/18/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) on 10/30/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) on 10/29/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) on 10/29/2024.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $5.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $236.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 61,642,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 46,857,012. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $240.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.95. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third 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 period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Senator Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island. He assumed office on January 3, 2007. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Whitehouse (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Rhode Island. He declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Whitehouse previously served as the Rhode Island attorney general from 1999 to 2003. Before that, he was a United States attorney from 1994 to 1998. He was nominated to the position by President Bill Clinton (D). Whitehouse was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from Rhode Island. He cast his vote for Hillary Clinton. As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, Whitehouse is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

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.