2,594 Shares in Ares Management Corporation $ARES Bought by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,813,445,000 after buying an additional 382,273 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,218,084,000 after buying an additional 30,451 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $491,735,000 after buying an additional 152,169 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $278,941,000 after buying an additional 5,424 shares during the period. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 1,132,922 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $166,098,000 after buying an additional 30,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $179.82 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $181.81 and its 200-day moving average is $165.58. The company has a market capitalization of $58.75 billion, a PE ratio of 103.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.44.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,424,538 shares in the company, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total transaction of $24,946,933.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,965,174.72. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,809,483 shares of company stock worth $325,460,792. 36.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.