Forsta AP Fonden Sells 21,900 Shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden has reduced its holdings in Ares Management Corporation by 35.0%, now owning 40,700 shares valued at approximately $5.97 million.
• Recent insider activity includes CEO Michael J. Arougheti selling 107,500 shares for over $17 million, reducing his ownership by 7.13%.
• Ares Management's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $1.03, missing estimates, and the company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share.

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 35.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,700 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 21,900 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 156,700 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $22,974,000 after acquiring an additional 18,345 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 74.4% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 21,032 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,409,000 after purchasing an additional 8,973 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 735,155 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $107,781,000 after purchasing an additional 19,897 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 1st quarter valued at $579,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Ares Management by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,439 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Stock Up 3.3%

Ares Management stock traded up $6.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $192.68. 1,278,881 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,414,334. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $62.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $177.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.47.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business 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 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 258.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.07, for a total transaction of $30,971,107.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 350,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,640,827.88. This trade represents a 34.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353 over the last three months. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 target price on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 research report on Monday, April 14th. 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 research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.19.

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.