Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 85,914 Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 948,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 85,914 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $8,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARI. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 73.2% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 39,901 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 16,862 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 75.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 70,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 30,540 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1.9% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 114,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 10.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 17.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 71,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 10,406 shares during the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ARI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

NYSE ARI opened at $9.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.90, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.75. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.52 and a twelve month high of $12.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.93. The company has a quick ratio of 46.13, a current ratio of 46.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.98%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is -108.69%.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Profile

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.