Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stock Position in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Apollo Global Management were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apollo Global Management by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,717,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $713,230,000 after purchasing an additional 254,268 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apollo Global Management by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,806,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,600,000 after purchasing an additional 383,557 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,298,000 after acquiring an additional 4,892 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,182,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,670,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 1,100,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,487,000 after acquiring an additional 104,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.28, for a total value of $791,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 377,164 shares in the company, valued at $59,697,517.92. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Leon D. Black sold 58,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.37, for a total value of $10,090,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,104,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,114,495.01. This represents a 0.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 201,600 shares of company stock valued at $34,977,528 over the last three months. 8.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on APO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $196.00 to $194.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Apollo Global Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apollo Global Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $157.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.74.

Apollo Global Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APO opened at $156.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.17. Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.11 and a 1-year high of $189.49. The company has a market cap of $88.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.63.

Apollo Global Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Apollo Global Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

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.