Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,573 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 381 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% in the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter worth approximately $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARES. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 26,579 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.66, for a total transaction of $3,791,760.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 75,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,699,500. This trade represents a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 28,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total transaction of $5,078,912.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 87,461 shares in the company, valued at $15,377,393.02. This represents a 24.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 602,357 shares of company stock valued at $97,672,269 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $176.73 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $107.69 and a 12 month high of $180.38. The company has a market capitalization of $55.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

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.