Apple execs cash in on summer stock run-up

Two of Apple's top executives have taken advantage of investor confidence after the company's strong spring quarter results, selling off stocks and stock options in a transaction that saw over $30.3 million change hands in a single day.

Both the company's financial chief Peter Oppenheimer and Board of Directors member Bill Campbell have sold significant portions of their Apple investment on July 30, according to filings with the Security and Exchange Commission. The move comes just days after the company's July 25 spring quarterly report triggered a record share price for the year.

Oppenheimer was the most aggressive, selling 135,625 shares at a value of $144.28 each and netting roughly $19.6 million in a single transaction.

Campbell, who also heads up tax software firm Intuit in addition to his role at Apple, took a staggered approach. Spreading out his transactions over the course of the day, Campbell exercised the stock options granted to him to sell 77,051 shares at varying prices. After factoring in the stock option fee — which subtracted nearly $6 from every share — the board member collected about $10.7 million in profits.

Unlike the most recent share exchange by Oppenheimer and other top Apple officials, the latest transaction was not prompted by a desire to settle taxes and appears to be a strict profit-taking maneuver.

Coincidentally, the sell-off came just a day before an off-hand comment spread by analysts caused a significant drop in Apple's stock value, which had yet to fully recover as of Monday.

19 Comments

delfoniq 94 comments · 17 Years

About 17 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The sell-off also came just a day before an off-hand comment spread by analysts caused a significant drop in Apple's stock value, which had yet to fully recover as of Monday.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

So in other words Apple execs can (very efficiently) predict the future and sell before stock plummets . What's new?

wally 211 comments · 18 Years

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

the latest transaction was not required by federal rules and appears to be a strict profit-taking maneuver.

Wow. So the government still allows that sort of thing huh?

spindrift 652 comments · 17 Years

I don't see what the fuss is about. What's the point of owning shares if you can't trade with them?

Now if Apple execs manipulated the market or share prices for personal gain, then that is bad. But I don't see any reason why they can't buy and sell the same way we would.

mugwump 228 comments · 23 Years

If I'm not mistaken, Apple execs have been selling shares and jumping ship for the past few years. I guess it's time to pay off some mortgages.

anantksundaram 20390 comments · 18 Years

This is a complete non-story, and full of unfortunate innuendo.

Here's the link for all of Mr. Oppenheimer's trades in the past three years:

http://biz.yahoo.com/t/11/6289.html

He has sold (on autopilot) all the way from ~$9 per share to his most recent sale at $144+ per share.

For instance, he sold 114,000 shares at ~$60 a while ago. Do you think he was signaling that AAPL had peaked at $60?

For AI to make a statement such as "......the latest transaction was not required by federal rules and appears to be a strict profit-taking maneuver" is completely irresponsible and not based on any facts whatsoever.

Btw, what is a "transaction required by federal rules"? As far as my knowledge goes, that is plain and pure nonsense.