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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $520,219.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,420.72. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE ARI opened at $9.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of -10.34 and a beta of 1.74. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.44 and a fifty-two week high of $11.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.29. The company has a quick ratio of 51.19, a current ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -105.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARI. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,684,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,360,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,164,000 after buying an additional 271,908 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 226,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 468,335 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after buying an additional 196,122 shares during the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARI shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.08.

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.