Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 1,462.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,552 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 25,789 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 125.6% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Oppenheimer cut Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.94.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $176.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 927,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,431,049. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $167.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Ares Management Corporation has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $57.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.99, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.37.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 16.29% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $17,344,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $225,876,000. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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.