Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Decreases Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 59.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 230,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 339,754 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.07% of Ares Management worth $30,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,392,349 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,949,378,000 after purchasing an additional 631,334 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,872,559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $460,525,000 after purchasing an additional 71,819 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $205,499,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 216.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,253,644 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,083,000 after purchasing an additional 857,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 973,201 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $115,733,000 after purchasing an additional 275,880 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.29. 708,305 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,151,234. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $139.48 and a 200-day moving average of $132.95. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $96.00 and a 52 week high of $150.12. The stock has a market cap of $45.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.60, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 166.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 157,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 92,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,660,399.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 157,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.22, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.41, for a total transaction of $14,041,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $21,061,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 661,254 shares of company stock worth $91,687,892. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Ares Management from $150.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ares Management in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.