Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 250,399 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,844,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.10% of Apple Hospitality REIT at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,767,740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $103,885,000 after purchasing an additional 29,781 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,575 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $77,867,000 after buying an additional 18,858 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,590,568 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $70,465,000 after buying an additional 133,505 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,099,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,082,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,620,000 after buying an additional 26,489 shares in the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on APLE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on 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 Price Performance

Apple Hospitality REIT stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.67. 1,268,198 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,228,923. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.44 and a 12-month high of $16.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $12.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $333.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.11 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. Analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.23%. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

About Apple Hospitality REIT

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.