Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO)

Key Points

• Unusual bearish options activity: Investors bought 22,175 put options on Apollo Global Management, about 186% above the typical volume of 7,746 contracts.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive: Apollo has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $150.36, although several firms recently lowered targets or assigned “equal weight” or “hold” ratings.
• Shares and earnings faced pressure: APO traded near $114.44, below its 50-day moving average, after the company narrowly missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5625, representing a 2.0% yield.

Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 22,175 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 186% compared to the typical volume of 7,746 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apollo Global Management news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 3,000 shares of Apollo Global Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $422,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 396,533 shares in the company, valued at $55,847,707.72. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APO. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 261.3% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,490,000 after purchasing an additional 88,572 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Apollo Global Management by 55.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 2.7% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 75,576 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,941,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 12.1% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 879,811 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $104,090,000 after acquiring an additional 33,191 shares in the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on APO shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Apollo Global Management from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Apollo Global Management from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Apollo Global Management from $165.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Apollo Global Management in a research report on Friday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $127.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apollo Global Management from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.36.

Apollo Global Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APO traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $114.44. The stock had a trading volume of 871,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,269,754. The company has a market cap of $67.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.58. Apollo Global Management has a twelve month low of $99.56 and a twelve month high of $153.29. The business's fifty day moving average is $129.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.16 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.65 billion. Apollo Global Management had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 5.22%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apollo Global Management will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.5625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Apollo Global Management's payout ratio is currently 82.42%.

About Apollo Global Management

Apollo Global Management, Inc NYSE: APO is a global alternative asset manager that provides investment management and related services to institutional investors, companies, family offices and individual investors. The firm invests across private equity, credit and real assets, with strategies spanning corporate lending, private and public debt, infrastructure, real estate and other long-term investments.

Apollo also manages retirement and insurance-related assets through Athene, a retirement services company affiliated with Apollo.

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