Axa S.A. Purchases Shares of 43,352 Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Axa S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 43,352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 68,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 29,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 63,506 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $986,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 15,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 26,799 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple Hospitality REIT

In related news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,200.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 636,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,943,339.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 0.3 %

Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $14.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $14.45 and its 200-day moving average is $14.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 1.12. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.60 and a fifty-two week high of $17.90.

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

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on APLE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.25.

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.