Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $180.34 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Highland Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Highland Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,911,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 15,706 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,270,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 117,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 46,133 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,542,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northland Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $3,448,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.31.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $276.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.25 and a one year high of $288.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $260.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.58%.

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.