Bayforest Capital Ltd Sells 767 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Bayforest Capital Ltd decreased its position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 21.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 1,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.1% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Up 4.0%

ARES opened at $149.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.20. The company has a market capitalization of $48.81 billion, a PE ratio of 86.35, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.43. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 258.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,424,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $254,693,149.02. The trade was a 12.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.31.

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.