Balefire LLC Acquires Shares of 2,223 Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Balefire LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,223 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $230,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,743 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after purchasing an additional 807,361 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:ARES opened at $171.31 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $55.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.04 and its 200-day moving average is $166.63.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The business 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 posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 263.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARES. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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 target on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.94.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 57,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.55, for a total value of $9,699,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 532,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,334,883.60. This trade represents a 9.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353 over the last ninety days. 36.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.