Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stock Position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 182.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,906 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 8,978 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total value of $14,347,150.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.07, for a total transaction of $30,971,107.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 350,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,640,827.88. The trade was a 34.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 983,990 shares of company stock worth $163,182,482. Insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $167.23. 1,497,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,428,372. Ares Management Corporation has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $160.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued 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 2.68%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.