Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri has sold a batch of shares for $16.9 million on Wednesday, an SEC filing reveals, performed as part of an arranged trading plan.
Maestri performed two sales of Apple shares on August 17, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing states. One transaction was for 66,390 shares, sold for $174.66 each, while the other was 30,345 shares fetching $175.60 apiece.
A total of 96,735 shares were sold by Maestri on that day, and it was reported to the SEC two days later by Maestri's "attorney-in-fact," Sam Whittington.
The sale, reported by MacRumors equals a hefty amount of Maestri's total ownership of Apple shares. Following the second sale, Maestri still has 110,673 Apple shares in his portfolio, worth over $18.9 million as of Apple's $171.52 share price on Saturday night.
Though observers may try to read some insight into Maestri's timing for the sale, the way it was conducted prevents any analysis of Maestri's opinion of the company's future fortunes.
As the CFO, Maestro has to be seen to be above board, and following insider trading laws, Maestri pre-arranged a trading plan long in advance of the actual sale. The filing states the trading plan was adopted on November 16, 2020, and was modified on February 26, 2021, long before the transactions took place.
The long delay between arranging the sale and the sale itself removes any possibility that the sale is a reaction to an event or a recent trend.