Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 12,198 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,198 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 12.1% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 48,714 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,011,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 11.1% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $2,223,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 258.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,589 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 7,633 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,782,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $133.28 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $92.95 and a 52-week high of $150.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.29 billion, a PE ratio of 59.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $138.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.86.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.29.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total value of $6,486,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total transaction of $6,486,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 157,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 92,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,660,399.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,544,846 shares of company stock valued at $209,247,962. Corporate insiders own 1.20% 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.