Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.3% of Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $240.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.72. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. 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.