Voya Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,464 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 783.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter valued at $87,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth about $89,000. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. BTIG Research upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ARI opened at $9.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 51.19 and a quick ratio of 51.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.09 and a beta of 1.49. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.70 and a 1-year high of $11.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.21.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a positive return on equity of 9.37% and a negative net margin of 39.40%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.43%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -3,333.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,420.72. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total transaction of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,855.04. The trade was a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 73,074 shares of company stock valued at $724,579. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.