Kentucky Retirement Systems Invests $4.88 Million in Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in shares of Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 35,627 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,879,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,135,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,454,560,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691,700 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,413,245 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,550,316,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,979 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,452,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,065,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739,807 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,382,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $723,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,900,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $479,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Apollo Global Management from $214.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $145.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $193.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $159.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apollo Global Management news, insider Lb 2018 Gst Trust bought 607,725 shares of Apollo Global Management stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $111.39 per share, for a total transaction of $67,694,487.75. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 621,754 shares in the company, valued at $69,257,178.06. This represents a 4,331.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Kelly sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.57, for a total transaction of $530,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 373,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,470,351.48. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apollo Global Management Stock Performance

Apollo Global Management stock opened at $134.61 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.96. 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 0.34, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $76.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.59.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.02). Apollo Global Management had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $977.14 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. This is a boost from Apollo Global Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Apollo Global Management's dividend payout ratio is 35.73%.

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.

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