Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Lowers Holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB reduced its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 15.5% during the first quarter, holding 50,571 shares worth approximately $7.4 million after selling 9,251 shares.
• Ares Management recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $1.09, exceeding analysts' estimates, and revenues of $951.96 million, alongside a declared quarterly dividend of $1.12.
• Insider sales included CEO Michael J. Arougheti selling over 182,000 shares for approximately $30.97 million, representing a 34.18% decrease in his ownership of the company.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ cut its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,571 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,251 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Ares Management were worth $7,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its position 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 worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 9.5% during the first quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 865 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,360 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 17,628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Ares Management from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $177.50.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of ARES traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $186.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 438,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,651,535. The company's fifty day moving average price is $173.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.73. 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 market cap of $61.04 billion, a PE ratio of 110.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.37. Ares Management Corporation has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.40%. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $225,876,000. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353. Company 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.