Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stake Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Ares Management worth $3,329,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $155.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $49.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARES. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of Ares Management 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. The trade was a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.