Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,900 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Ares Management were worth $9,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Ares Management by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after acquiring an additional 223,919 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $907,534,000 after acquiring an additional 66,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,727,597 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $659,896,000 after acquiring an additional 302,303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 350,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,640,827.88. This trade represents a 34.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 62,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total value of $10,585,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 62,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,585,000. This trade represents a 50.00% 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 worth $146,204,353 in the last three months. Insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $186.56. The stock had a trading volume of 241,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,139. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.35. Ares Management Corporation has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $60.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.37.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 263.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ARES. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. JMP Securities set a $195.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.50.

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.