Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 253,082 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,398,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 253,082 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 3.05% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $121,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of APLE. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,260,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,142 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 47.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,105,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,977,000 after purchasing an additional 678,905 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,298,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $119,553,000 after purchasing an additional 247,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 310,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,159,000 after buying an additional 150,965 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:APLE traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $15.02. The company had a trading volume of 418,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,058,862. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.95 and a 52 week high of $17.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.42.

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 14.58% and a return on equity of 6.11%. 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is presently 111.63%.

Insider Activity at Apple Hospitality REIT

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.78 per share, for a total transaction of $73,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 631,990 shares in the company, valued at $9,340,812.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLE has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.40.

Apple Hospitality REIT 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.