Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Sells 2,003 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lowered its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 10.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,421 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,003 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 7.4% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 7,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 1,269.8% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 87,130 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,579,000 after buying an additional 80,769 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 67.7% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 87,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,661,000 after buying an additional 35,385 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter worth about $460,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.7% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.6 %

ARES opened at $173.94 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $166.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $54.45 billion, a PE ratio of 80.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.19. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $107.69 and a twelve month high of $180.38.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 29,107 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.15, for a total transaction of $5,127,198.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 666,030 shares of company stock valued at $109,779,010 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Company Profile

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.