Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 745,705 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 14,177 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $173,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $229.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 68,239,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,481,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $241.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.