Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,695 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 7,695 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 416,257 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $61,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 3.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,918 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter worth approximately $5,759,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,234 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quilter Plc boosted its position in Ares Management by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 647,060 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $94,865,000 after purchasing an additional 24,329 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total value of $5,472,902.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.94.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $178.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.47. The company has a market capitalization of $58.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.37. Ares Management Corporation has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $914.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is 263.53%.

About Ares Management

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.

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