Rep. Laurel M. Lee Purchases Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Representative Laurel M. Lee (R-Florida) recently bought shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). In a filing disclosed on November 21st, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $15,001 and $50,000 in Apple stock on October 7th.

Representative Laurel M. Lee also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) on 11/8/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) on 10/21/2024.
• Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) on 9/10/2024.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $229.87 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after buying an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares during the period. Finally, Gentry Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at $876,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. UBS Group upped their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

About Representative Lee

Laurel Lee (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Florida’s 15th Congressional District. She assumed office on January 3, 2023. Her current term ends on January 3, 2025. Lee (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Florida’s 15th Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on August 20, 2024. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Lee to serve as the Florida Secretary of State on January 28, 2019, after the resignation of Michael Ertel on January 24. Lee resigned on May 16, 2022. Lee was a judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida from 2013 to 2019. She was appointed to the court by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in May 2013. She was elected to the position in 2014. Laurel Lee earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida. Lee’s career experience includes working as an attorney with Carlton Fields, P.A., an assistant federal public defender and assistant U.S. attorney with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and a law clerk to James S. Moody on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

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.