Blue Trust Inc. Sells 5,032 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 68.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,032 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,050,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,210,530,000 after buying an additional 4,373,955 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Ares Management by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,705,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $922,196,000 after buying an additional 1,187,174 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,489,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $883,716,000 after buying an additional 1,963,460 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Ares Management by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,257,710 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $688,176,000 after acquiring an additional 14,516 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,839,693 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $620,616,000 after acquiring an additional 304,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ares Management from $178.00 to $163.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ares Management from $144.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $146.00 price target (down from $147.00) on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.12.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $107.85 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.16, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.51. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $95.80 and a 1-year high of $195.26.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.08). Ares Management had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 22.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 6.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 251.16%.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a global alternative asset manager that provides investment solutions across credit, private equity and real estate. The firm originates and manages capital across a range of strategies including direct lending, syndicated and special situations credit, private equity buyouts and growth investments, and real estate equity and debt. Ares serves institutional investors, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and high‑net‑worth clients through both commingled funds and bespoke managed account structures.

Within credit, Ares offers strategies spanning leveraged loans, structured credit, opportunistic and distressed debt, and specialty finance, with an emphasis on underwriting, portfolio construction and active asset management.