Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Sells $17,478,026.40 in Stock

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony Ressler sold 97,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.40, for a total transaction of $17,478,026.40. Following the sale, the chairman owned 1,902,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,321,973.60. The trade was a 4.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $180.8550 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $59.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.54, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $179.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ARES. Cfra Research raised shares of Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARES. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at $328,910,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 9.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,936,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,626,179,000 after buying an additional 1,746,376 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the second quarter worth $161,774,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 394.8% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 766,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $135,652,000 after buying an additional 611,414 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 443.8% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 383,209 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,839,000 after buying an additional 312,742 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.