Insider Selling: Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) CEO Sells 40,000 Shares of Stock

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 40,000 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.60, for a total value of $424,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,292 shares in the company, valued at $4,402,095.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ARI traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 473,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,193. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62 and a beta of 1.67. 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 1 year low of $9.13 and a 1 year high of $12.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.97.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 466.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 6.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 6.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 15,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY grew its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 8,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 84.8% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 314,951 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ARI shares. Bank of America downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $10.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TheStreet raised Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company 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.