Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony Ressler Sells 105,394 Shares

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony Ressler sold 105,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.65, for a total transaction of $19,144,820.10. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,733,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,846,134.05. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of ARES opened at $180.8550 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $179.73 and its 200 day moving average is $166.10. Ares Management Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a PE ratio of 104.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 258.96%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.1% during the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% during the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 10.3% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 630 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,576 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer downgraded Ares Management from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.06.

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.