B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 1,672 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 47.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,864 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,672 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,207,381,000 after purchasing an additional 206,996 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after buying an additional 1,867,933 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after buying an additional 933,664 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $308,754,000 after acquiring an additional 453,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,376,000 after acquiring an additional 603,676 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Down 4.5 %

ARES opened at $153.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $147.34 and its 200 day moving average is $141.18. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.00 and a fifty-two week high of $161.56.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 166.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ARES. Barclays lifted their target price on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 27,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,942,995.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 222,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,474,504.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 624,316 shares of company stock worth $90,919,400 over the last quarter. 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.