Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,590 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APLE. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,737,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,059,000 after buying an additional 718,844 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,761,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,571,000 after purchasing an additional 62,149 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,575 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $77,867,000 after purchasing an additional 18,858 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,457,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,187,000 after purchasing an additional 182,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 2,099,877 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,183,000 after purchasing an additional 207,256 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:APLE opened at $14.79 on Friday. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $16.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.11 million. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Company Profile

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.