In a Form 4 filing with the SEC late Tuesday, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook disclosed selling 511,000 common shares of the iPhone giant worth about $88 million. Of the shares, 270,431 were used for taxes, leaving Cook with net proceeds of approximately $41 million.
It was Cook's largest stock sale in more than two years and comes with shares well off recent highs but still up 33% on the year.
Cook still owns 3,280,053 Apple shares following the transaction, worth about $563 million based on current prices.
In 2021, Cook sold $750 million in Apple stock.
The latest stock sale disclosure comes on the same day that Apple received a rare Wall Street downgrade. KeyBanc downgraded the stock to Sector Weight from Overweight. The analysts cited valuation, with shares trading near-peak multiples despite a mature growth profile. In addition, the analysts said the Americas region will likely see soft growth and the international segment is seeing challenging trends.
Global smartphone demand is expected to cool this year as customers contend with sticky inflation and elevated interest, according to research group Canalys. In a September report, Canalys estimated that shipments of these devices in North America would slide by 12% in 2023.
Shares of Apple hovered around the flatline in early U.S. trading on Wednesday.