T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,404,480 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,320,414 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,404,480 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 2.63% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $97,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,850 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 40,163 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 27,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised Apple Hospitality REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $11.79. The stock had a trading volume of 622,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,216,709. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04. The business's 50-day moving average price is $12.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.00. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.44 and a fifty-two week high of $16.50.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.