Insider Selling: Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Insider Sells 19,775 Shares of Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total value of $3,311,323.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 230,225 shares in the company, valued at $38,551,176.25. This trade represents a 7.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Ares Management stock traded up $2.92 on Tuesday, reaching $170.35. 723,417 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,157,421. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $105.89 and a fifty-two week high of $175.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $161.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.24.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 171.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,207,381,000 after buying an additional 206,996 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Ares Management by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,933 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after acquiring an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $459,580,000 after purchasing an additional 175,627 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.