Insider Selling: Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) CEO Sells $2,646,573.00 in Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,802,571.96. This trade represents a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $175.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $54.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.86. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $107.69 and a one year high of $176.31.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Ares Management by 23.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,086,000 after purchasing an additional 8,666 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 15.4% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,109 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,207,381,000 after acquiring an additional 206,996 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 20.0% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,488 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 118.2% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.