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 Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at $35,802,571.96. This represents a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $170.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $105.89 and a 12-month high of $175.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $161.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.24. The company has a market capitalization of $53.33 billion, a PE ratio of 78.50, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend 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

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in Ares Management during the second quarter worth $53,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.