SOL Capital Management CO Decreases Stock Position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

SOL Capital Management CO cut its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the period. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,665,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $158,687,000 after acquiring an additional 54,938 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,764,000 after acquiring an additional 122,504 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,715,545 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,827,000 after acquiring an additional 536,101 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,688,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,433,000 after acquiring an additional 101,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,147,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,105,000 after purchasing an additional 50,400 shares in the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $10.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 4th. TheStreet raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.38.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ARI opened at $11.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 67.73, a current ratio of 67.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.58 and a 52-week high of $12.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30 and a beta of 1.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 466.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.45, for a total transaction of $458,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 541,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,202,178.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance 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.