Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE cut its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 735,360 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 159,780 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.31% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $11,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APLE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,239,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $126,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,996 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $21,099,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 126.8% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 899,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,813,000 after purchasing an additional 503,114 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter worth about $5,451,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,651,000. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Up 2.7%

APLE traded up $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,580,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,268,335. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.44 and a 1-year high of $16.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.98 and a 200-day moving average of $14.11.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. The business 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 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. As a group, 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 announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 8.3%. Apple Hospitality REIT's payout ratio is 121.52%.

Insider Transactions at Apple Hospitality REIT

In related news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.43 per share, for a total transaction of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 700,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,004,931.92. The trade was a 1.45% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock worth $137,120. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Hospitality REIT Company 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.