Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $10.14 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sentry Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,294 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,509 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.6% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,790,933,000 after purchasing an additional 984,157 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Phillip Securities cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $267.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $277.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Profile

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.