New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,898 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,962 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APLE. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management bought a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at $159,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at $163,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,023 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.40.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

NYSE:APLE opened at $14.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.22 and a twelve month high of $17.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.20.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.12). Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company had revenue of $329.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.63%.

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.