Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Cynosure Group LLC

Cynosure Group LLC reduced its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,026 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,314 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 26,579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.66, for a total value of $3,791,760.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 75,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,699,500. This trade represents a 26.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 645,388 shares of company stock worth $103,931,822. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.36.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $178.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $55.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $107.69 and a 52-week high of $178.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $164.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.78.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted 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. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Ares Management 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.