Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) CEO Stuart Rothstein Sells 52,074 Shares of Stock

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,855,420.72. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 0.2 %

ARI opened at $9.96 on Thursday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.44 and a 1-year high of $11.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of -10.48 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 51.19, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a positive return on equity of 9.37% and a negative net margin of 39.40%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.05%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is -105.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ARI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 783.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares in the last quarter. CF Capital LLC purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates, acquires, invests in, and manages commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.