Laurion Capital Management LP Sells 1,839 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Laurion Capital Management LP lessened its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,147 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,839 shares during the period. Laurion Capital Management LP's holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $230,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,743 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after purchasing an additional 807,361 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citizens Jmp raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066 over the last three months. 36.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 4.1%

NYSE ARES traded down $7.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $168.63. 3,115,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,425,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business's 50-day moving average is $147.41 and its 200-day moving average is $167.62. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Ares Management's payout ratio is 263.53%.

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.