Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Chase Investment Counsel Corp

Chase Investment Counsel Corp trimmed its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,907 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. Ares Management makes up approximately 1.9% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after buying an additional 63,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $566,826,000 after buying an additional 352,126 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.3 %

ARES opened at $170.93 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $184.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.