Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stock Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,038 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APLE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 102,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,578,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.2% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 61,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.3% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 45,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

NYSE:APLE opened at $14.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.21. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.22 and a 52 week high of $17.90.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.12). Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 13.21%. The business had revenue of $329.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.40.

About Apple Hospitality REIT

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.