Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Director Sells $109,560.00 in Stock

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total transaction of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at $95,855.04. The trade was a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

NYSE ARI opened at $10.01 on Friday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.44 and a 12 month high of $11.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 51.19 and a quick ratio of 51.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of -10.53 and a beta of 1.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.32.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is -105.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ARI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARI. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 41,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at $560,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 449,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 68,976 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 41,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 12,090 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter worth $31,684,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

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.