Cigna Investments Inc. New Trims Stock Holdings in Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO)

Cigna Investments Inc. New reduced its position in shares of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) by 5.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Apollo Global Management were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,038,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,824,342,000 after purchasing an additional 750,781 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,775,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,004,161,000 after purchasing an additional 218,566 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Global Management during the 4th quarter valued at $586,016,000. Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,939,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,476,000 after purchasing an additional 164,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Apollo Global Management by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,738,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,525 shares in the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pauline Richards acquired 2,351 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $104.92 per share, with a total value of $246,666.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 85,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,007,801.68. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Global Management Trading Up 4.5 %

Apollo Global Management stock traded up $4.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $110.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,826,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,540,479. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $62.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $116.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.88. Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.11 and a 12 month high of $126.45.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $873.18 million. Apollo Global Management had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 21.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apollo Global Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Global Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4625 per share. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Apollo Global Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apollo Global Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $124.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $119.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $122.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apollo Global Management from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apollo Global Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Global Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.62.

Apollo Global Management Company Profile

Apollo Global Management, Inc is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity and real estate 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 capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions.