Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 34.2%, bringing its holdings down to 27,462 shares worth approximately $4,026,000.
• Ares Management's stock has a current market capitalization of $61.90 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.55.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12, with an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 258.96%.

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,462 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 14,295 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canton Hathaway LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 865 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,360 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 17,628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, 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 value of $30,971,107.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 350,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,640,827.88. This represents a 34.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353 over the last quarter. Insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $188.53. 952,904 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,431,361. The company has a market cap of $61.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.98, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $176.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.76. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Ares Management's payout ratio is 258.96%.

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.