New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $1.59 Million Position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 183,183 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,586,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,236,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $131,949,000 after acquiring an additional 135,785 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,263,378 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $19,601,000 after purchasing an additional 162,089 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,063,511 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,210,000 after buying an additional 115,109 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,022,941 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,859,000 after buying an additional 56,284 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,114 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,344,000 after buying an additional 16,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total transaction of $109,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,855.04. The trade was a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $520,219.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,420.72. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,265,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,629. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.44 and a 1-year high of $11.20. The company has a quick ratio of 51.19, a current ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.26.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.46%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently -105.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.08.

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.