13,066 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,066 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,036,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% during the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.64.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $182.66 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $112.03 and a 1-year high of $184.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $169.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.17.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.40, for a total transaction of $1,930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 376,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,162,788.80. This represents a 3.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at $38,495,125.76. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 644,810 shares of company stock worth $111,116,340 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.