Norges Bank Buys Shares of 387,987 Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 387,987 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,360,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.33.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:ARI traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, hitting $8.23. The stock had a trading volume of 92,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,728. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -8.63 and a beta of 1.41. The business's fifty day moving average is $9.55 and its 200 day moving average is $9.17. The company has a quick ratio of 51.19, a current ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.70 and a 52 week high of $11.20.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a negative net margin of 39.40% and a positive return on equity of 9.37%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -105.26%.

Insider Transactions at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,855,420.72. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This represents a 53.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company 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.