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

Bailard Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 849,468 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,686 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.2% of Bailard Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $197,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $24,518,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,938 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,042,000 after purchasing an additional 3,137 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 96.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Breed s Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC now owns 26,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,590,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush upped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

AAPL opened at $242.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.75. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a PEG 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 one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.