Empowered Funds LLC Sells 32,330 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 90.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 32,330 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% during the 2nd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARES. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 613,326 shares of company stock valued at $96,606,744. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $175.52 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $107.69 and a 52 week high of $176.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

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.