Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 125.6% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 3,262.5% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 269 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total value of $5,472,902.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $17,344,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,876,000. The trade was a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353. 36.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer downgraded Ares Management from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 target price on Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.94.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $178.20 on Thursday. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $165.70 and its 200 day moving average is $166.47. The company has a market cap of $58.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.82, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 16.29% and a net margin of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Research 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 declared 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 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 263.53%.

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.