Forsta AP Fonden Buys 3,500 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 8.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $7,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 1.3% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,576 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its stake in Ares Management by 3.4% in the second quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 1,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $24,946,933.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,424,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,693,149.02. This trade represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,533,796 shares of company stock worth $453,825,507. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $148.61 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $158.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.87. Ares Management Corporation has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $48.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.45.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.8438 dividend. This represents a $3.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 192.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ares Management from $188.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $175.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ares Management from $178.00 to $175.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.