Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its Apple stake by 6.7% in Q4, selling 47,526 shares and leaving 663,344 shares valued at about $180.34 million.
• Insider selling was notable: CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares and SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 30,002 shares, with insiders offloading 96,485 shares worth roughly $24.6 million over the last quarter.
• Apple beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.01 vs. $1.95; revenue $111.18B, up 16.6%), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback.

Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 663,344 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 47,526 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $180,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $276.73 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $260.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.27. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.25 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 12.58%.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Better-than-expected results and a strong near-term revenue forecast boosted investor confidence; management cited benefit from new March products. Apple Delivers Strong Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Apple authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback and has massive free cash flow, supporting shareholder returns and reducing downside risk. Apple Just Gave Investors a $100 Billion Reason to Rethink the AI Spending Race
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and strategists are upping targets and highlighting App Store/services growth, providing near-term bullish research momentum. Price Target Hike / App Store Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Product roadmap/AI push — iOS 27 and related AI features are being highlighted as potential catalysts for higher engagement and monetization. More AI Is Coming to iOS 27
• Positive Sentiment: New wallet/payments features (turning QR codes into Wallet passes) could broaden payment use-cases and stickiness for Apple’s ecosystem. Apple Aims to Turn Every QR Code Into a Wallet Pass
• Neutral Sentiment: Services remain a growth anchor even as App Store download dynamics shift — analysts expect steady services growth that helps the margin profile. Services Strength Offsets Slower App Downloads
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand and PR items (e.g., new Pride band) support image but have limited direct financial impact. Apple's New Rainbow Pride Band
• Negative Sentiment: Chip and memory supply issues are constraining iPhone availability, capping near-term upside and creating margin pressure as component costs rise. Apple Can't Meet Demand For iPhones Due To Chip Shortages
• Negative Sentiment: App Store policy enforcement is drawing complaints from startups — regulatory and developer friction could attract scrutiny or hurt ecosystem sentiment. Apple's Stance on Vibe Coding Apps Leaves Startups Frustrated
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution (Hold calls) citing rising memory costs and notable insider selling add near-term selling pressure and justify valuation skepticism. Hold Rating: Margin Risks from Rising Memory Costs

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $304.31.

About Apple

Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

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