Squarepoint Ops LLC Invests $551,000 in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 35,906 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLE. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,850 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,502 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 40,163 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 27,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.25.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE APLE traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $11.58. 2,646,553 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,282,703. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.44 and a 1-year high of $16.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.07.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $327.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.86 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 8.3%. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple Hospitality REIT

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 700,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,004,931.92. The trade was a 1.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $137,120 in the last 90 days. 7.10% of the stock is 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.