Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Insider Sells $4,539,351.24 in Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) insider David B. Kaplan sold 26,518 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total value of $4,539,351.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 167,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,739,581.38. This trade represents a 13.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE ARES opened at $175.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.13. The stock has a market cap of $54.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.86, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $107.69 and a 52 week high of $176.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc bought a new position in Ares Management during the second quarter worth $53,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management in the first quarter worth $54,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

About Ares Management

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.