Alpine Global Management LLC Takes Position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 70,190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $608,000. Alpine Global Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARI. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 329,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 130,892 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,852 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 271,908 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $578,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,236,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $131,949,000 after acquiring an additional 135,785 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 168.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 73,992 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 46,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARI. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. BTIG Research upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

ARI stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.20. 2,018,790 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,118,447. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -9.69 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.15. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.70 and a 52 week high of $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a current ratio of 51.19.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a positive return on equity of 9.37% and a negative net margin of 39.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.87%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently -105.26%.

Insider Activity at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,855,420.72. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total transaction of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at $95,855.04. The trade was a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% 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.