TCW Group Inc. Buys 15,846 Shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. has significantly increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 99.5%, acquiring an additional 15,846 shares for a total of 31,765 shares worth approximately $4.66 million.
• Insider selling activity reported includes CEO Michael J. Arougheti selling 182,108 shares, reducing his holdings by 34.18% and resulting in ownership of 350,684 shares valued at about $59.64 million.
• Analysts have given Ares Management stock a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $177.50, though recent reports show a wide range of target prices from $152.00 to $202.00.

TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 99.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,765 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 15,846 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 704 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 9.5% in the first quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 865 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,360 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its stake in Ares Management by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 17,628 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,121,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 350,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,640,827.88. The trade was a 34.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 62,500 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353 in the last three months. Company insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities set a $195.00 target price on Ares Management and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.50.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.1%

ARES stock opened at $186.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $60.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.37. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $171.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.35. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 263.53%.

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.

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