Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,186 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,562 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $7,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 722.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $231,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,856 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $229,056,000 after buying an additional 280,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.92.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $197.39 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $117.47 and a twelve month high of $197.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.79 billion, a PE ratio of 90.96, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $179.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,356,837.12. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 229,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,503,162.88. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647. Company insiders own 1.20% 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.