Antony P. Ressler Sells 48,572 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 48,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.69, for a total transaction of $6,445,018.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.2 %

ARES traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $132.96. The stock had a trading volume of 784,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 978,778. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $77.97 and a 1-year high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.45.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,392,349 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,949,378,000 after purchasing an additional 631,334 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,389,511 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,097,379,000 after acquiring an additional 771,052 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 27.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,866 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 269.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,113,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,222,000 after buying an additional 2,998,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,872,559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $460,525,000 after buying an additional 71,819 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently 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.