Ares Management Corporation $ARES Position Increased by Blue Whale Capital LLP

Blue Whale Capital LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 80.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 410,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 183,329 shares during the quarter. Ares Management comprises about 4.7% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Blue Whale Capital LLP owned about 0.13% of Ares Management worth $71,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 2.0% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 630 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,576 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 186,197 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total transaction of $28,441,591.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 290,997 shares in the company, valued at $44,449,791.75. This trade represents a 39.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 177,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.61, for a total transaction of $31,779,898.69. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 865,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,589,991.37. The trade was a 17.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,551,855 shares of company stock valued at $268,176,696 in the last three months. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $152.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ares Management Corporation has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $49.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $153.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.36.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.8438 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 192.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.46.

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.