FORA Capital LLC Sells 9,307 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

FORA Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,849 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,307 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 28,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total transaction of $5,078,912.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 87,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,377,393.02. This trade represents a 24.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 645,388 shares of company stock valued at $103,931,822 in the last three months. 41.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $179.02. 228,379 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,158,388. The company has a market capitalization of $56.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.78. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $107.69 and a 1 year high of $180.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

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.