Apple CEO Tim Cook and four of his direct reports have sold more than $70 million of stock this month, unloading the slumping shares at prices significantly below where shares ended 2023 as prearranged trading plans kicked in.
The iPhone maker had a boffo 2023, with shares surging 48%, and doubling the 24% rise in the S&P 500. Apple stock’s outperformance earned it a spot in the so-called Magnificent Seven, the tech-focused companies leading the market’s rally. The shares crested in late January, when Apple launched its Vision Pro VR goggles.
But since then, a flurry of negative news, plus concern that Apple may be falling behind in artificial intelligence, has dragged down the stock. Shares slipped in early February after services revenue for the December quarter missed estimates, overshadowing an otherwise strong report.
Apple’s car project, long rumored and never officially announced, was over by the end of that month, removing some of the wonder factor from the shares. In March, the Department of Justice sued Apple, alleging the company violated federal law to preserve its dominant position in the mobile-phone market. Apple disputes the government’s core position that the iPhone is a monopoly and denies it violated the law.
As of the close on Thursday, Apple stock had dropped 13% so far this year, compared with a 5% rise in the S&P 500.
Cook acquired 196,410 shares on April 1 through the settlement of restricted stock units, selling an equal number of shares that day and on April 2 for a total of $33.3 million, an average price of $169.33 each. According to a form Cook filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a trust he controlled sold the shares through a so-called Rule 10b5-1 trading plan he adopted on Nov. 28.
Trading plans automatically execute trades when present conditions such as price, volume, and timing are met. They are meant to remove any potential for an insider to benefit from the knowledge of nonpublic information. Cook’s trust now owns 3.3 million shares.
Apple didn’t respond to a request to make Cook or any other executives available for comment on their stock sales.
Cook sold Apple stock at a price that represents a 12% drop from the price of $192.53 at the end of 2023. It was also lower than his most recent previous transaction in October, when Cook sold 240,569 Apple shares for $41.5 million in a planned transaction for an average price of $172.50.
Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams sold 59,162 Apple shares on April 11 through a plan for $10.2 million, an average price of $172.22 each. Williams now owns 489,944 shares. His latest transaction was in October, when he sold 69,785 shares for $12.4 million, an average price of $177 each, also through a plan.
General Counsel Katherine Adams and Deirdre O’Brien, senior vice president of retail, each acquired 113,309 Apple shares on April 1 through the settlement of restricted stock units. They each sold 54,732 shares on April 2 for $9.2 million, an average price of $168.90, through a plan. Each executive had 58,577 shares withheld by Apple to satisfy tax-withholding requirements on the vesting of restricted stock units. Adams now owns 293,393 shares, while O’Brien owns 136,572.
Adams’ latest transaction was in November, when a trust that she controlled sold 123,448 shares for $23.3 million, an average price of $188.79. The form didn’t indicate the sales were conducted through a plan.
O’Brien’s most recent previous transaction was in October, when she sold 65,536 Apple shares for $11.3 million, an average price of $172.11 each. The planned sale followed the settlement of restricted stock units and shares withheld for taxes.
Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri sold 53,194 Apple shares on April 11 through a plan for $9.3 million, an average price of $174.12 each. He now owns 107,788 Apple shares. Maestri’s latest transaction was in October, when he sold 63,695 shares through a plan for $11.4 million, an average price of $178.29 each.
