Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 57.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,340 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 14,293 shares during the quarter. Ares Management comprises approximately 1.0% of EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 4.1 %

ARES stock opened at $153.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $48.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.77, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $174.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.