Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires 5,068 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 9.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,341 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,068 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,813,445,000 after purchasing an additional 382,273 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,218,084,000 after acquiring an additional 30,451 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,280,000 after purchasing an additional 244,286 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $278,941,000 after purchasing an additional 5,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.5% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,727,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $253,278,000 after purchasing an additional 90,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ARES shares. Oppenheimer set a $190.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ares Management from $175.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America raised 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $178.00 to $175.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.46.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,989,059 shares of company stock valued at $355,167,794 in the last quarter. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of ARES opened at $145.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $47.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Ares Management Corporation has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.71.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.8438 per share. This represents a $3.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 192.27%.

Ares Management 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.