Kessler Investment Group LLC Purchases New Holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 39,283 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $5,759,000. Ares Management makes up approximately 2.8% of Kessler Investment Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 704 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 4,303 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 519 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 5,205 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $859,137.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,669 shares in the company, valued at $9,353,785.14. The trade was a 8.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.07, for a total value of $30,971,107.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 350,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,640,827.88. The trade was a 34.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353 in the last ninety days. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of ARES stock opened at $173.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.38. Ares Management Corporation has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.61.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Ares Management's payout ratio is 263.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.94.

Ares Management Company 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.

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