Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $9.73 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 30.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,785 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 19,471 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.1% of Sentry Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $9,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kwmg LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the first quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 25,023 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,558,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 194,090 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $43,113,000 after acquiring an additional 23,622 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 98,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,882,000 after purchasing an additional 37,124 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 9.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 669,867 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $148,798,000 after buying an additional 57,835 shares during the period. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 8.2% during the first quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 13,337 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $213.36. 34,926,355 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,553,501. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.

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.