BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 13,751 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 107,471 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13,751 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Ares Management were worth $19,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. AXA S.A. increased its position in Ares Management by 64.3% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 9,312 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,644 shares during the period. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $515,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $18,663,000. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 49,185 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems lifted its stake in Ares Management by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 30,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,435,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.6 %

ARES opened at $164.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $146.41 and its 200-day moving average is $167.53. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,180 shares of company stock worth $39,411,066 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Management from $156.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Ares Management Company Profile

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.