Capital World Investors Decreases Stake in Apollo Global Management Inc. $APO

Key Points

• Capital World Investors cut its Apollo Global Management stake by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, selling about 4.05 million shares. It still held 24.17 million shares worth roughly $3.5 billion at quarter-end.
• Other major institutions were net buyers, including Vanguard, Geode Capital, and Bank of New York Mellon, and overall 77.06% of Apollo’s stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Apollo reported Q1 earnings of $1.94 per share, beating expectations, while revenue came in below estimates. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5625 per share from $0.51.

Capital World Investors reduced its position in Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO - Free Report) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,170,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,049,297 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned approximately 4.16% of Apollo Global Management worth $3,498,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,760,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,913,826,000 after purchasing an additional 340,956 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,198,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,469,793,000 after purchasing an additional 200,312 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,385,787 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $584,494,000 after purchasing an additional 299,698 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,611,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $522,850,000 after purchasing an additional 155,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,712,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $392,653,000 after purchasing an additional 260,905 shares in the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John P. Zito sold 48,644 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.66, for a total transaction of $6,355,825.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,063,696 shares in the company, valued at $400,302,519.36. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apollo Global Management Price Performance

APO opened at $128.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $73.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.50. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.56 and a fifty-two week high of $157.28. The company's 50-day moving average price is $122.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Apollo Global Management had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 14.43%. Apollo Global Management's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.5625 per share. This represents a $2.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Apollo Global Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. Apollo Global Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 143.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on APO shares. Argus upgraded shares of Apollo Global Management to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Apollo Global Management from $169.00 to $134.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apollo Global Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apollo Global Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.23.

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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