Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by National Wealth Management Group LLC

National Wealth Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 51.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,666 shares during the period. National Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Curated Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 199.7% in the second quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,658,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $221,007,000 after buying an additional 3,321,434 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,933 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 2nd quarter worth about $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 722.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $231,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after purchasing an additional 933,664 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $174.78 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $107.69 and a 1 year high of $180.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $165.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 14,962 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.62, for a total value of $2,178,766.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,227,500. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 631,855 shares of company stock worth $101,967,913 over the last 90 days. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ARES. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

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.