Michael J. Arougheti Sells 20,096 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at $38,495,125.76. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $171.89 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $161.90 and a 200-day moving average of $148.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $105.89 and a 12-month high of $175.74. The firm has a market cap of $53.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.21, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

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.