Natixis Advisors LLC Has $7.39 Million Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $7,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $566,826,000 after purchasing an additional 352,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ARES. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $147.19 on Friday. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.85. The company has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.51, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. The trade was a 69.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.