Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Insider Sells $5,078,912.34 in Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) insider David B. Kaplan sold 28,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total value of $5,078,912.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 87,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,377,393.02. This represents a 24.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES traded up $2.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $178.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,586,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,162,642. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.78. The stock has a market cap of $55.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.40, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $107.69 and a twelve month high of $178.88.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARES. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Ares Management by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 82,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,000,000 after buying an additional 26,012 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,729,000. Retireful LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $696,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 36.7% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 53,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after acquiring an additional 14,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.