Baillie Gifford & Co. Decreases Stock Position in Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Symbotic Inc. by 1.4%, now owning approximately 13.7 million shares valued at $277 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Symbotic insiders have been active in selling shares, with notable sales including 25,000 shares sold by insider William M. Boyd III, representing a 41.99% decrease in his position.
• Despite missing earnings expectations, Symbotic reported a 39.7% increase in revenue year-over-year for the quarter, bringing in $549.65 million.

Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,706,465 shares of the company's stock after selling 198,324 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 2.33% of Symbotic worth $277,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Symbotic by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 48,672 shares of the company's stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in Symbotic by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 13,596 shares of the company's stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Symbotic by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,566 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the last quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Symbotic by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 88,360 shares of the company's stock worth $1,786,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Symbotic by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,621 shares of the company's stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter.

Symbotic Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ SYM traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,625,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,658,595. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.82 and a 200 day moving average of $28.90. Symbotic Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.32 and a 1-year high of $55.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,324.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 55.65 and a beta of 2.03.

Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $549.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.36 million. Symbotic had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.07) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Symbotic Inc. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Symbotic news, Director Daniela L. Rus sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total value of $48,330.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,098,492.57. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Todd Krasnow sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.48, for a total value of $185,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 189,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,786,393.28. The trade was a 2.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,871 shares of company stock valued at $2,791,800 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Symbotic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $51.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 18th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Symbotic in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Symbotic in a report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Symbotic from $35.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Symbotic from $25.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.94.

Symbotic Profile

Symbotic Inc, an automation technology company, engages in developing technologies to improve operating efficiencies in modern warehouses. The company automates the processing of pallets and cases in large warehouses or distribution centers for retail companies. Its systems enhance operations at the front end of the supply chain.