Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) CEO Sells $4,423,287.88 in Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 25,843 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.16, for a total transaction of $4,423,287.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 167,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,705,414.76. The trade was a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $175.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $163.69 and its 200 day moving average is $149.29. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $107.69 and a 12-month high of $176.83.

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, 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 business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.6% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 82,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,000,000 after purchasing an additional 26,012 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter valued at $264,729,000. Retireful LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $696,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 53,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,104,000 after buying an additional 14,300 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic assumed 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.