Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,230 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,732 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARES. JMP Securities upped their target price on Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.93. 1,659,104 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,409,920. The company has a market capitalization of $52.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $146.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.51.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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.