Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,590 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APLE. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter worth $159,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 28.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 2,506 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $14.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.12. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.60 and a 1 year high of $16.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.11 million. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.09%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Profile

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc (NYSE: APLE) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns one of the largest and most diverse portfolios of upscale, rooms-focused hotels in the United States. Apple Hospitality's portfolio consists of 223 hotels with more than 29,400 guest rooms located in 87 markets throughout 37 states as well as one property leased to third parties.