David B. Kaplan Sells 26,518 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) insider David B. Kaplan sold 26,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.18, for a total transaction of $4,539,351.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 167,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,739,581.38. This represents a 13.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.3 %

ARES stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $175.46. The stock had a trading volume of 940,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,876. The company has a market capitalization of $54.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.13. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $107.69 and a one year high of $176.83.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.12%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped 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. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.