Bessemer Group Inc. Cuts Position in Apollo Global Management Inc. $APO

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its Apollo Global Management stake by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 80,580 shares and leaving it with 1,536,648 shares valued at about $222.4 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on APO, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.75, even though one firm recently downgraded the stock to sell.
• Apollo reported quarterly EPS of $1.94, topping estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5625 per share, up from $0.51.

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its stake in Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,536,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 80,580 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of Apollo Global Management worth $222,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Apollo Global Management by 100.3% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 10,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 5,452 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apollo Global Management by 48.7% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 52,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,997,000 after acquiring an additional 17,204 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Apollo Global Management by 11.0% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $120,017,000 after acquiring an additional 89,439 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Apollo Global Management by 23.6% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 630,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $84,029,000 after acquiring an additional 120,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Apollo Global Management by 60.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 109,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,616,000 after acquiring an additional 41,142 shares in the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APO has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apollo Global Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apollo Global Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Apollo Global Management from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apollo Global Management in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Apollo Global Management from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.75.

Apollo Global Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:APO opened at $135.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $78.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $116.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.56 and a 12 month high of $157.28.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Apollo Global Management had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 14.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8.37 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.5625 per share. This represents a $2.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Apollo Global Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Apollo Global Management's payout ratio is currently 129.94%.

Apollo Global Management Profile

Apollo Global Management, Inc NYSE: APO is a global alternative investment manager that specializes in private equity, credit and real assets. The firm originates, invests in and manages a broad set of strategies across distressed and opportunistic credit, direct lending, structured credit, buyouts and real estate. Apollo provides investment management and advisory services to institutional clients and individual investors through pooled funds, separate accounts and publicly listed investment vehicles.

Its private equity business pursues control and non-control investments across industries, often focusing on complex or distressed situations where operational improvement and capital solutions can create value.

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