Blue Whale Capital LLP Takes Position in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO)

Blue Whale Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 286,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,400,000. Apollo Global Management makes up about 3.5% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apollo Global Management by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,413,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,550,316,000 after buying an additional 3,695,979 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,135,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,454,560,000 after buying an additional 3,691,700 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Apollo Global Management by 245.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,653,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $438,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,146 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,900,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $479,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Apollo Global Management by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,640,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,148,000 after purchasing an additional 782,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Global Management Trading Down 12.3 %

Shares of APO opened at $108.22 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.49 and a 200 day moving average of $154.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.66. Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.11 and a 1-year high of $189.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Apollo Global Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.4625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Apollo Global Management’s payout ratio is 25.31%.

Insider Activity at Apollo Global Management

In other Apollo Global Management news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.28, for a total transaction of $791,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 377,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,697,517.92. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon D. Black sold 500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total transaction of $71,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,604,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,913,877,766. This represents a 1.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $196.00 to $194.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Apollo Global Management from $178.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Apollo Global Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Apollo Global Management from $187.00 to $177.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apollo Global Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.26.

Apollo Global Management Profile

Apollo Global Management, Inc is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity, infrastructure, secondaries and real estate markets. The firm prefers to invest in private and public 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, venture capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions.