Rathbones Group PLC Has $655,000 Stock Position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC reduced its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 34%, now holding 4,467 shares valued at $655,000 as of the most recent SEC filing.
• A number of analysts have given Ares Management a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and price targets ranging from $178.19 to $205.00, indicating a bullish outlook on the stock.
• In recent insider activity, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares valued at approximately $17.34 million, leading to a 7.13% decrease in his total holdings in the company.

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 34.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,467 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,813,445,000 after purchasing an additional 382,273 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Ares Management by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 223,919 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,218,084,000 after purchasing an additional 30,451 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,727,597 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $659,896,000 after purchasing an additional 302,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 4.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $491,735,000 after purchasing an additional 152,169 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $2.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $187.80. 928,258 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,347,009. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.40. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $178.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.4%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 258.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARES. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.19.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total value of $5,472,902.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 531,329 shares of company stock worth $88,173,829 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

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.