Bennett Rosenthal Sells 69,809 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES traded down $14.04 on Monday, reaching $140.92. 3,160,404 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,196,968. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.27. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $44.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Ares Management's payout ratio is 183.25%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,195,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $106,436,000 after acquiring an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 134.1% during the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.17.

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.