Legal & General Group Plc Trims Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,622,012 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 140,044 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.68% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $24,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of APLE. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 80.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE APLE traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.87. 2,900,750 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,204,708. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.44 and a 12 month high of $16.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.00.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.11 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.08%. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.