Insider Selling: Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) Insider Sells 915,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Leon Black, an insider at Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO), sold 915,000 shares for approximately $122.64 million, reducing his ownership stake by 16.82% to 4,526,000 shares, worth around $606.62 million post-sale.
• Apollo Global Management reported a quarterly EPS of $1.92, surpassing analysts' expectations and significantly improving from $1.64 EPS from the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.51, yielding 1.5%, which reflects a dividend payout ratio of 38.13%.

Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) insider Leon D. Black sold 915,000 shares of Apollo Global Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total value of $122,637,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,526,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $606,619,780. This trade represents a 16.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Apollo Global Management Stock Performance

APO stock traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $138.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,306,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,131,071. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $141.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.07. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.58 and a fifty-two week high of $189.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.69.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Apollo Global Management had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 13.25%.The company had revenue of $6,550,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Apollo Global Management's payout ratio is 38.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Apollo Global Management from $156.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apollo Global Management from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $164.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apollo Global Management by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 12.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 116,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,463,000 after buying an additional 12,691 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Global Management during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 202.8% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 3,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 3.8% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.06% of the company's stock.

About Apollo Global Management

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.