Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Bailard Inc.’s Largest Position

Bailard Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 849,468 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,686 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.2% of Bailard Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $197,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in Apple by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $242.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

About Apple

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.