Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes Position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. has acquired 4,669 shares in Ares Management Corporation, valued at approximately $685,000.
• Ares Management's CEO, Michael J. Arougheti, sold 107,500 shares recently, marking a 7.13% decrease in his position, while insiders have sold a total of 873,145 shares worth over $146 million in the last 90 days.
• Ares Management reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.09 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.15, alongside an announced quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share.

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,669 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,365,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 12.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 394.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 766,267 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $135,652,000 after acquiring an additional 611,414 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 443.8% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 383,209 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,839,000 after acquiring an additional 312,742 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,290,741 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $228,500,000 after buying an additional 306,181 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer lowered Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Monday. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $177.50.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.4%

ARES traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $186.95. The company had a trading volume of 269,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,687. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $171.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.35. 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 $61.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.89, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the company'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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $17,344,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $225,876,000. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353. 36.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.