1,554 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Bought by Nicolet Advisory Services LLC

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,554 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $264,729,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.5% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 97,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 19.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 834,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $110,986,000 after purchasing an additional 134,842 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ARES shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 613,326 shares of company stock valued at $96,606,744. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $175.52 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $107.69 and a 52-week high of $176.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.29.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

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.