Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Position Trimmed by Peregrine Capital Management LLC

Peregrine Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 713,159 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 131,428 shares during the quarter. Ares Management comprises 3.7% of Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned 0.23% of Ares Management worth $126,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 5,900 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 30,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.16, for a total value of $5,404,588.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 525,777 shares of company stock worth $93,531,158 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $186.11 on Tuesday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

About Ares Management

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.