Clearbridge Investments LLC Buys 54,305 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. $APLE

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 659,804 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 54,305 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.28% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $7,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.4% during the second quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 80,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 22.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 4,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on APLE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.21.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of APLE opened at $15.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.65 and its 200-day moving average is $12.62. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.85 and a 12 month high of $16.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $337.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $327.81 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 12.08%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.96 per share, with a total value of $69,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 747,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,430,786.36. This trade represents a 0.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Hospitality REIT Profile

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE: APLE) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that focuses on acquiring, owning and operating high-quality, upscale, select-service hotels. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of properties operated under premium franchise agreements with leading lodging brands such as Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. Apple Hospitality REIT is self-managed and internally advised, overseeing property management, revenue optimization and asset-level operations through its in-house team of hospitality professionals.

The company’s holdings encompass over 200 hotels featuring more than 30,000 guest rooms across a diverse array of markets in the United States.