Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Has $262,000 Stock Holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,226 shares during the quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 127.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 40.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4,406.5% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420 shares in the last quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the second quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 30.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on APLE shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APLE opened at $14.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.65 and a 200-day moving average of $14.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.13. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.60 and a 12 month high of $16.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $378.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.56 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.58%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.94%.

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.