Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Stake Lowered by Balyasny Asset Management L.P.

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lessened its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) by 59.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,230,946 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,819,791 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.51% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $18,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,099,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,590,568 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $70,465,000 after purchasing an additional 133,505 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 133.4% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 95,642 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,468,000 after buying an additional 54,661 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 118.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 422,361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,273,000 after acquiring an additional 229,293 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on APLE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Apple Hospitality REIT stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,842,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,055. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.44 and a twelve month high of $16.50. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $12.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $327.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $332.86 million. Research analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.16%. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio is currently 121.52%.

Insider Activity at Apple Hospitality REIT

In other Apple Hospitality REIT news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 10,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.43 per share, for a total transaction of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 700,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,004,931.92. This trade represents a 1.45 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock worth $137,120. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.