Fred Alger Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Ares Management Corporation by selling 55,418 shares, resulting in a 65.6% decrease in holdings to 29,125 shares worth approximately $4.27 million.
• Insider selling has also occurred, with Chairman Antony P. Ressler and CEO Michael J. Arougheti offloading a combined total of over 332,713 shares, indicating notable decreases in their ownership.
• Ares Management recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12, which will be paid on September 30th, with a yield of 2.6%; the company also reported a miss in EPS estimates for the last quarter.

Fred Alger Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 65.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,125 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 55,418 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 125.6% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 3,262.5% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 269 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,424,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $24,946,933.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639. Insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.0%

Ares Management stock traded down $1.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $182.95. 837,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,340,234. The business's 50 day moving average is $182.19 and its 200 day moving average is $165.63. Ares Management Corporation has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $59.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.75, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 258.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARES. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $182.73.

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.