Wealth Alliance LLC Boosts Holdings in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Wealth Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 30.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,388 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 44,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,655,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Ares Management by 1.6% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 36,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 86,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,991,000 after buying an additional 5,022 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.6% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 262,254 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $45,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter worth $992,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $24,946,933.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $35,078,061.63. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,424,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $254,693,149.02. The trade was a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock valued at $464,430,639. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Ares Management from $178.00 to $175.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on Ares Management from $200.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Oppenheimer set a $190.00 price objective on Ares Management and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.46.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock traded down $3.08 on Thursday, hitting $150.61. 63,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,696,150. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $159.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.21 billion, a PE ratio of 86.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.45. Ares Management Corporation has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.8438 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 192.27%.

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.