Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,519 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter worth $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total transaction of $18,880,759.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.1 %

Ares Management stock opened at $131.68 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $77.97 and a 12-month high of $139.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 55.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays cut their target price on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.17.

Ares Management 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.