Blue Whale Capital LLP Increases Position in Apollo Global Management Inc. $APO

Key Points

• Blue Whale Capital LLP increased its stake in Apollo Global Management Inc. by 117.2% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 6.9% of its investment portfolio in the company.
• Apollo Global Management reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.92 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and showcases a net margin of 13.25%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, with a yield of 1.5% and a payout ratio of 38.13%.

Blue Whale Capital LLP grew its position in Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO - Free Report) by 117.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 623,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 336,498 shares during the quarter. Apollo Global Management makes up approximately 6.9% of Blue Whale Capital LLP's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Blue Whale Capital LLP owned 0.11% of Apollo Global Management worth $85,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Global Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 84.5% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 285.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 231 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Global Management in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 118.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 317 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apollo Global Management Price Performance

Shares of APO traded down $0.2350 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $133.9650. The company had a trading volume of 2,760,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,598,016. The company's 50-day moving average is $142.91 and its 200-day moving average is $139.14. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.58 and a twelve month high of $189.49. The company has a market capitalization of $76.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6,550,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Apollo Global Management had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 13.25%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Apollo Global Management's payout ratio is currently 38.13%.

Insider Transactions at Apollo Global Management

In other news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.11, for a total transaction of $2,249,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 332,399 shares in the company, valued at $48,234,418.89. The trade was a 4.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Whitney Chatterjee sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.03, for a total value of $657,135.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 83,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,148,527.76. This trade represents a 5.13% 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on APO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apollo Global Management from $156.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apollo Global Management from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Apollo Global Management from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apollo Global Management from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Apollo Global Management from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apollo Global Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $163.28.

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.