Insider Buying: Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Major Shareholder Buys 250,000 Shares of Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES – Get Rating) major shareholder Ares Management Llc bought 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,962,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 35,623,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,630,587.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Ares Management Llc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 13th, Ares Management Llc acquired 168,692 shares of Ares Management stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.77 per share, with a total value of $4,009,808.84.
• On Monday, January 30th, Ares Management Llc acquired 500,000 shares of Ares Management stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.79 per share, with a total value of $895,000.00.
• On Friday, January 27th, Ares Management Llc acquired 525,902 shares of Ares Management stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.80 per share, with a total value of $946,623.60.
• On Wednesday, January 25th, Ares Management Llc acquired 875,000 shares of Ares Management stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.56 per share, with a total value of $1,365,000.00.
• On Monday, January 23rd, Ares Management Llc acquired 730,000 shares of Ares Management stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.65 per share, with a total value of $1,204,500.00.
• On Thursday, January 19th, Ares Management Llc acquired 300,000 shares of Ares Management stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.33 per share, with a total value of $399,000.00.
• On Tuesday, January 17th, Ares Management Llc bought 400,000 shares of Ares Management stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.36 per share, with a total value of $544,000.00.
• On Friday, January 13th, Ares Management Llc bought 330,000 shares of Ares Management stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.39 per share, with a total value of $458,700.00.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $75.05 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $53.15 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The company has a market cap of $22.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.14. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $937.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.69 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 287.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARES. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $87.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $107,777,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 13,281.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,100,098 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,877 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,270,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $223,821,000 after acquiring an additional 576,836 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 808.6% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 544,164 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,941,000 after acquiring an additional 484,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,038,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,140,328,000 after acquiring an additional 458,646 shares in the last quarter. 47.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ares Management

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Ares Management Corp. is engaged in providing investment management and consultancy services. It operates through the following segments: Credit Group, Private Equity Group and Real Estate Group. The Credit Group segment offers credit strategies across the liquid and illiquid spectrum, including syndicated bank loans, high yield bonds, credit opportunities, special situations, asset-backed investments and U.S.