Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Position in Apollo Global Management Inc. $APO

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its Apollo Global Management stake by 15.6% in the first quarter, adding 266,732 shares to bring its total holdings to 1,976,083 shares valued at about $220.1 million.
• Several large institutional investors also raised their positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 77.06% of Apollo’s stock. However, insider John P. Zito sold 48,644 shares in late May, trimming his ownership by 1.56%.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Apollo, with an average Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $149.08. The company also recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and increased its dividend to $0.5625 per share from $0.51.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,976,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 266,732 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.34% of Apollo Global Management worth $220,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,760,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,913,826,000 after buying an additional 340,956 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apollo Global Management by 2.0% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 200,312 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Apollo Global Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,448,618 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $643,982,000 after buying an additional 62,831 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Apollo Global Management by 4.5% during 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 buying an additional 155,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apollo Global Management by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,288,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $475,985,000 after acquiring an additional 98,945 shares during the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Global Management

In other news, insider John P. Zito sold 48,644 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.66, for a total value of $6,355,825.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,063,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,302,519.36. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Apollo Global Management from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $165.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target 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. HSBC began coverage on shares of Apollo Global Management in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Apollo Global Management from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.08.

Apollo Global Management Price Performance

APO stock opened at $119.15 on Friday. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.56 and a 12 month high of $153.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.15. The stock has a market cap of $68.69 billion, a PE ratio of 75.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.50.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.05. The company 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.5625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This is a positive change from Apollo Global Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Apollo Global Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 143.31%.

Apollo Global Management Company 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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