Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lessened its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) by 47.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,608 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 79,681 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP owned 0.06% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 429,738 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,731,000 after buying an additional 14,682 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 44,663 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management increased its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 67,834 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,745,469 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $15,116,000 after buying an additional 226,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $95,000. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARI has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,855,420.72. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark C. Biderman sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total transaction of $94,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 60,787 shares in the company, valued at $576,260.76. This trade represents a 14.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,074 shares of company stock worth $724,579 over the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE ARI traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.59. 1,006,912 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,111,152. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.09 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a current ratio of 51.19. 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 50-day moving average is $9.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.21.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's payout ratio is -3,333.33%.

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.