Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Dearborn Partners LLC

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Ares Management Corporation by 10%, owning a total of 110,035 shares valued at approximately $16.1 million.
• Ares Management recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.48 and a yield of 2.38%.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Ares Management, with Morgan Stanley lowering its target from $197 to $152, while Goldman Sachs set a target at $166.

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,035 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,271 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $16,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 125.6% during the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $2.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $183.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,193,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,251,419. The company has a market capitalization of $59.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.71, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.40. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.79.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 263.53%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $5,472,902.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total value of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARES. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $177.50.

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.