66,746 Shares in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 66,746 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $578,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $93,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 272.1% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 14,089 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 10,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at $127,000. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,420.72. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This represents a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.10. 1,627,452 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,077,521. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of -8.52 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 51.19 and a quick ratio of 51.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.19. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.48 and a 12 month high of $11.20.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -105.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.50.

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.