Insider Selling: Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) CEO Sells 15,825 Shares of Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,646,573.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at $35,802,571.96. The trade was a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:ARES traded up $2.92 on Tuesday, hitting $170.35. 723,417 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,157,421. The company has a market cap of $53.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $161.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $105.89 and a 52 week high of $175.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 4,996 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Ares Management by 45.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 82,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,000,000 after purchasing an additional 26,012 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter worth approximately $264,729,000. Finally, Retireful LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $696,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARES. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective 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, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

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.