Leo Wealth LLC Purchases New Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 29,200.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 18,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.87, for a total transaction of $2,421,290.01. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 38,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,145.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 15,304 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.58, for a total transaction of $2,059,612.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 18,223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.87, for a total value of $2,421,290.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 38,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,145.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,498,259 shares of company stock worth $203,308,728 in the last three months. Company insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ARES. UBS Group increased their target price on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ares Management in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $176.00 to $132.00 in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.29.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.1 %

ARES traded up $1.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $134.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,208,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,118,988. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $90.29 and a twelve month high of $150.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $137.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.88 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 21.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

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.