Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler Sells 18,881 Shares

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 18,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.96, for a total value of $2,529,298.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.2 %

ARES opened at $132.96 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $77.97 and a 52 week high of $139.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $41.16 billion, a PE ratio of 55.63, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $130.14 and a 200-day moving average of $116.56.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.