Insider Selling: Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Insider Sells $5,078,912.34 in Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) insider David B. Kaplan sold 28,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 87,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,377,393.02. This represents a 24.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $174.78 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $107.69 and a fifty-two week high of $180.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.13.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter worth about $264,729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 834,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $110,986,000 after buying an additional 134,842 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 86.4% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,639 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 280.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,309 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after acquiring an additional 12,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 59.8% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 2,147 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

Ares Management Company 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.