U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,337 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 40.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,960 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 39,270 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,757,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth about $667,000. Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $10,144,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 35,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,234,000 after buying an additional 7,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 target price on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total transaction of $17,344,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $225,876,000. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total transaction of $5,472,902.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $2.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $177.40. 713,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,428,369. The stock has a market cap of $57.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.35, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $168.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.48. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $914.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.