Insider Selling: Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Sells 143,569 Shares of Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ARES traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $129.53. The company had a trading volume of 1,158,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,030,055. The firm has a market cap of $40.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $133.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $77.97 and a 52-week high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.17.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in Ares Management by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 13,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 647 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 250 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.