Insider Selling: Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Sells $18,880,759.19 in Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.9 %

ARES stock opened at $129.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a PE ratio of 54.20, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $77.97 and a 1-year high of $139.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.99.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 13,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 647 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 250 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Company 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.