David B. Kaplan Sells 26,518 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) insider David B. Kaplan sold 26,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $4,539,351.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 167,891 shares in the company, valued at $28,739,581.38. This trade represents a 13.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $175.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.88, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. 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 $107.69 and a 12 month high of $176.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.21.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 20.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Ares Management by 118.2% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Ares Management by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 65,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,995,000. Finally, Natixis grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 401.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 10,273 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 8,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.