Allianz Asset Management GmbH Increases Holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) by 59.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,452,584 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 540,957 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.61% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $18,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of APLE. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at $167,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,844,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,694 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,171 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter worth about $266,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,341 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 10,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.43 per share, for a total transaction of $114,300.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman owned 700,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,004,931.92. The trade was a 1.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $137,120. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lowered Apple Hospitality REIT from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $14.00 to $12.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.75.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Shares of APLE traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.57. 2,123,740 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,053,445. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 1.04. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a one year low of $10.44 and a one year high of $16.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.90 and a 200-day moving average of $12.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $327.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $332.86 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 5.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a jul 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT's payout ratio is 121.52%.

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.