JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 33,700 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,465,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 137.0% during 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. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 61,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,533,000 after purchasing an additional 16,499 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 15.7% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,326,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This 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 three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $148.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 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’s 50 day moving average price is $173.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.21.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio 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.