Northern Trust Corp Sells 54,498 Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance $ARI

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3.1%, selling 54,498 shares, while maintaining ownership of 1.69 million shares valued at approximately $16.18 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Public Sector Pension Investment Board and AlphaCore Capital LLC, significantly increased their stakes in the company during the first quarter.
• Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 9.5%.

Northern Trust Corp cut its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,690,971 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 54,498 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.22% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance worth $16,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 1st quarter valued at $364,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 26.3% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,620 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,840 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 405,208 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,878,000 after purchasing an additional 88,532 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 1st quarter valued at $7,813,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 172.6% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 112,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 70,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $10.75 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.83, for a total value of $511,887.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 333,854 shares in the company, valued at $3,281,784.82. This represents a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Shares of ARI stock opened at $10.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.96, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.57. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12 month low of $7.70 and a 12 month high of $10.60. The company has a quick ratio of 98.25, a current ratio of 98.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.70.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's payout ratio is -714.29%.

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.

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