Mutual Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 416,585 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $55,529,000 after buying an additional 20,724 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 60,875 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,115,000 after purchasing an additional 13,439 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Ares Management by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 23,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 52.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 127,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,968,000 after buying an additional 43,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Ares Management by 7.4% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 17,346 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARES. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,636,204.12. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 214,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,820,968.36. The trade was a 6.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $197.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $179.76 and a 200 day moving average of $162.17. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $117.47 and a 52 week high of $197.53.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

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.