Virtu Financial LLC Buys New Stake in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 9,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apollo Global Management by 4.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,717,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $713,230,000 after purchasing an additional 254,268 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 60.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,094,464 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,640,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,148,000 after acquiring an additional 782,700 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 0.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,298,000 after acquiring an additional 4,892 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 958,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,346,000 after acquiring an additional 6,955 shares during the period. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apollo Global Management Stock Performance

Apollo Global Management stock opened at $143.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.02. 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 0.33, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $81.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.66.

Apollo Global Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.4625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Apollo Global Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.28, for a total value of $791,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 377,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,697,517.92. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Leon D. Black sold 500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total transaction of $71,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,604,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,913,877,766. This represents a 1.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $157.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $196.00 to $194.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apollo Global Management from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apollo Global Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.21.

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.