Swiss National Bank Trims Stock Position in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO)

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,240,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Apollo Global Management were worth $115,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apollo Global Management in the fourth quarter worth about $268,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Apollo Global Management by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apollo Global Management by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 7,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apollo Global Management by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 355,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,148,000 after purchasing an additional 87,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 3,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on APO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Apollo Global Management from $110.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Apollo Global Management from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apollo Global Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Apollo Global Management from $111.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apollo Global Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.31.

Apollo Global Management Price Performance

Apollo Global Management stock opened at $109.46 on Friday. Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.50 and a 52-week high of $117.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $111.11 and its 200 day moving average is $99.97. The company has a market cap of $62.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.61.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $795.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $823.27 million. Apollo Global Management had a net margin of 16.27% and a return on equity of 20.77%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apollo Global Management, Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.463 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is a positive change from Apollo Global Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Apollo Global Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James C. Zelter sold 150,000 shares of Apollo Global Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.16, for a total transaction of $16,374,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,454,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,782,826.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider James C. Zelter sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.16, for a total transaction of $16,374,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,454,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,782,826.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Leon D. Black sold 450,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.71, for a total value of $49,819,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,604,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,716,774,418.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,426,000 shares of company stock worth $158,226,960 over the last three months. 8.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apollo Global Management Profile

Apollo Global Management, Inc is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity and real estate markets. The firm's private equity investments include traditional buyouts, recapitalization, distressed buyouts and debt investments in real estate, corporate partner buyouts, distressed asset, corporate carve-outs, middle market, growth capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions.