Stuart Rothstein Sells 52,074 Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Stock

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ARI opened at $9.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.51 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a current ratio of 51.19. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.44 and a fifty-two week high of $11.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.30.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is -105.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,236,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,949,000 after buying an additional 135,785 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at $31,684,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,263,378 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,601,000 after purchasing an additional 162,089 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,745,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,116,000 after purchasing an additional 226,399 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,063,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,210,000 after purchasing an additional 115,109 shares during the period. 54.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

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.