Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning Sells 1,791 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning lessened its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 34.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,791 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 19,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 6,576 shares during the period. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,100,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $2,421,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,829,000 after acquiring an additional 29,457 shares during the period. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 66,950 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,962,000 after acquiring an additional 16,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARES. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $154.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.29.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of ARES traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $136.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,894. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $92.95 and a 52-week high of $150.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $138.09 and its 200-day moving average is $131.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.99, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $814.88 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 21.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 166.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total value of $16,492,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 157,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.22, for a total transaction of $23,394,600.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,163 shares in the company, valued at $13,660,399.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total transaction of $16,492,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,458,640 shares of company stock valued at $197,862,103. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

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.