Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $15.84 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,256 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,029 shares during the period. Apple makes up 7.6% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth about $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its position in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after buying an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,501,000 after acquiring an additional 34,414 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank increased its stake in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.17.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $205.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $212.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.61. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.