Handelsbanken Fonder AB Reduces Stock Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,218 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 30.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at $159,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 28.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 2,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on APLE shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE APLE opened at $14.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $16.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.12.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) 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 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 return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.