Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 22.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,289 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 652 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 40.0% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 253,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,312,450. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 28,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total transaction of $5,078,912.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 87,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,377,393.02. This trade represents a 24.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 602,357 shares of company stock valued at $97,672,269. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $176.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.53, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $107.69 and a 52-week high of $180.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.39. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Ares Management 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.