Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apollo Global Management from $155.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Apollo Global Management from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Apollo Global Management from $169.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apollo Global Management in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Apollo Global Management from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.08.

Apollo Global Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:APO opened at $122.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.14. Apollo Global Management has a fifty-two week low of $99.56 and a fifty-two week high of $153.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Apollo Global Management had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 14.43%. Apollo Global Management’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apollo Global Management will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.5625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $2.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Apollo Global Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Apollo Global Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 143.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John P. Zito sold 48,644 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.66, for a total value of $6,355,825.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,063,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,302,519.36. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Global Management

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Global Management in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,954,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 117.5% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,287,000 after purchasing an additional 8,709 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 6,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Apollo Global Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $722,000. Finally, Northern Right Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Apollo Global Management by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Right Capital Management L.P. now owns 172,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,542,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 77.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Apollo Global Management

Apollo Global Management, Inc (NYSE: APO) is a global alternative investment manager that specializes in private equity, credit and real assets. The firm originates, invests in and manages a broad set of strategies across distressed and opportunistic credit, direct lending, structured credit, buyouts and real estate. Apollo provides investment management and advisory services to institutional clients and individual investors through pooled funds, separate accounts and publicly listed investment vehicles.

Its private equity business pursues control and non-control investments across industries, often focusing on complex or distressed situations where operational improvement and capital solutions can create value.