Alpine Global Management LLC Purchases Shares of 70,190 Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 70,190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $608,000. Alpine Global Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 3,872 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $89,000. 54.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARI has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.50.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ARI traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,018,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,121,250. The company has a current ratio of 51.19, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -9.69 and a beta of 1.41. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a one year low of $7.70 and a one year high of $11.20. The company's fifty day moving average price is $9.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.16.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.87%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -3,333.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This trade represents a 53.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $520,219.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,420.72. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

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.