16,384 Shares in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) Purchased by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,706,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Partners Group Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 26.5% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 775,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,896,000 after purchasing an additional 162,678 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Apollo Global Management by 50.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 77,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,735,000 after buying an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 34.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,441 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 4,941 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,717,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $713,230,000 after acquiring an additional 254,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Apollo Global Management by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,182,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $147,670,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Leon D. Black sold 133,400 shares of Apollo Global Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.16, for a total value of $23,232,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,471,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,177,694,321.68. The trade was a 0.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Martin Kelly sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total value of $863,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 320,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,332,552.04. This represents a 1.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 196,600 shares of company stock valued at $34,186,128. Company insiders own 8.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on APO shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Apollo Global Management from $157.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Apollo Global Management in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised Apollo Global Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Apollo Global Management from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $111.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $164.32.

Apollo Global Management Stock Performance

Shares of APO stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $166.81. The company had a trading volume of 3,580,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,727,088. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $169.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.69. Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a one year low of $95.11 and a one 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 company has a market capitalization of $94.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.63.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.463 dividend. This is a positive change from Apollo Global Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Apollo Global Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.33%.

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.