United Asset Strategies Inc. Purchases Shares of 23,910 Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

United Asset Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 23,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $36,260,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,142 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 347,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,696,000 after purchasing an additional 35,166 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 1st quarter valued at $338,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 186,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the period. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on APLE. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple Hospitality REIT news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 636,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,943,339.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 0.8 %

Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $14.44 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.60 and a 12 month high of $17.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.13). Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The company had revenue of $390.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.63%.

About Apple Hospitality REIT

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.