Arizona State Retirement System Sells 4,372 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,381 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,372 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $9,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,705,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $922,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,174 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 487.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 912,656 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,925,000 after purchasing an additional 757,293 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,676,470 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,465,851,000 after purchasing an additional 740,103 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1,172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 622,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $99,579,000 after purchasing an additional 573,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,665,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $157.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $178.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $138.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.73.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Judy D. Olian acquired 480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $124.43 per share, with a total value of $59,726.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 29,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,699,801.62. This represents a 1.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $126.61 per share, with a total value of $1,266,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 34,071 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,729.31. This trade represents a 41.54% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ARES stock opened at $115.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.68 and a 200-day moving average of $140.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Ares Management Corporation has a 12-month low of $95.80 and a 12-month high of $195.26. The firm has a market cap of $38.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.26, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.52.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.26). Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 9.41%.The company had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 319.53%.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a global alternative asset manager that provides investment solutions across credit, private equity and real estate. The firm originates and manages capital across a range of strategies including direct lending, syndicated and special situations credit, private equity buyouts and growth investments, and real estate equity and debt. Ares serves institutional investors, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and high‑net‑worth clients through both commingled funds and bespoke managed account structures.

Within credit, Ares offers strategies spanning leveraged loans, structured credit, opportunistic and distressed debt, and specialty finance, with an emphasis on underwriting, portfolio construction and active asset management.