Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,560 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,957 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Ares Management by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.07, for a total value of $30,971,107.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 350,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 62,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total value of $10,585,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 62,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,585,000. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 942,680 shares of company stock valued at $155,477,123 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.1%

ARES traded down $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $164.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 224,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,417,900. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $150.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $53.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $914.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.94.

About Ares Management

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.