KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 62,900 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 62,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $11,135,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $335,858,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,483,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. 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 downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $153.81 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.35. The company has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 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.