19,424 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Bought by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,589,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 56.5% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 342,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $45,610,000 after purchasing an additional 123,501 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $627,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in Ares Management by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 129,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,247,000 after acquiring an additional 35,370 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 60,875 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,115,000 after acquiring an additional 13,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 39,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,327,000 after acquiring an additional 4,820 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Ares Management in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.42.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,950,570.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,466,929.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $6,260,151.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares in the company, valued at $161,475,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,950,570.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,466,929.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 604,316 shares of company stock valued at $87,718,000 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $156.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $145.02 and a 200 day moving average of $139.29. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $96.00 and a 52-week high of $157.53. The stock has a market cap of $48.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.25, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

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.