Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Boosts Stock Holdings in Apollo Global Management Inc. $APO

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO) by 25.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,078 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Apollo Global Management were worth $7,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APO. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apollo Global Management by 84.5% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apollo Global Management by 285.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Global Management during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Global Management during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Apollo Global Management by 118.6% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apollo Global Management

In related news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 15,500 shares of Apollo Global Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.11, for a total transaction of $2,249,205.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 332,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,234,418.89. The trade was a 4.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Whitney Chatterjee sold 4,500 shares of Apollo Global Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.03, for a total transaction of $657,135.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 83,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,148,527.76. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 935,000 shares of company stock worth $125,543,790. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apollo Global Management Stock Down 2.2%

APO stock opened at $127.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $138.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.11. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a one year low of $102.58 and a one year high of $189.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6,550,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Apollo Global Management had a net margin of 13.25% and a return on equity of 13.38%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Apollo Global Management’s payout ratio is presently 38.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Apollo Global Management from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apollo Global Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apollo Global Management from $156.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.93.

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.