63,115 Shares in Ares Management Corporation $ARES Purchased by Twin Tree Management LP

Key Points

• Twin Tree Management LP acquired 63,115 shares of Ares Management Corporation, valued at approximately $9.25 million, during the first quarter.
• Ares Management's Chairman Antony P. Ressler and CEO Michael J. Arougheti both sold a significant amount of shares, with Ressler selling 196,197 shares and Arougheti selling 136,516 shares, indicating insider selling activity.
• Equities analysts have raised price targets for Ares Management, with updates from firms like Royal Bank of Canada increasing their target to $215, reflecting an overall positive outlook on the stock's performance.

Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 63,115 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $9,253,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Comerica Bank raised its position in Ares Management by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 49,185 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $8,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,039 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its position in Ares Management by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 9,312 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,644 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 46,066 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $8,173,000 after buying an additional 5,724 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 89,390 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $15,825,000 after buying an additional 2,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,299 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $182.73.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.7%

ARES traded down $3.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $176.64. 1,243,964 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,264,575. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.71 billion, a PE ratio of 41.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's 50-day moving average is $181.64 and its 200 day moving average is $165.62. Ares Management Corporation has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is 258.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 177,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.61, for a total transaction of $31,779,898.69. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 865,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,589,991.37. This represents a 17.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 44,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.19, for a total transaction of $7,975,784.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,809,483 shares of company stock worth $325,460,792 in the last ninety days. 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.