Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Has $309,000 Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,763 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 209 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Ares Management by 31.2% during 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $126,622,000 after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Ares Management by 134.1% during the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $117.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.09. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $113.24 and a 1 year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.38.

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.