Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stake Reduced by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 764,124 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17,776 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $135,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 137.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 11,987 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,930 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 61,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,533,000 after purchasing an additional 16,499 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 181.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 6,525 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 15.7% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research 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, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

Ares Management Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $148.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.21. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.23, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. 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. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.