Baillie Gifford & Co. Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 654,054 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,569 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $126,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parker Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parker Financial LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,213 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,563,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,076 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,124,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $182.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.80. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.17 and a 12-month high of $198.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $89.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.78% and a net margin of 25.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 13th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.69%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total value of $5,661,792.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at $19,237,944.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total transaction of $5,661,792.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at $19,237,944.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total value of $41,498,152.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,809,142.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 439,585 shares of company stock worth $76,485,550 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Apple from $198.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Credit Suisse Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.82.

Apple 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.