Advisor OS LLC Sells 181 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Advisor OS LLC cut its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,393 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 181 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in Ares Management by 1,572.7% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ARES. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE ARES opened at $167.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $52.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $184.43 and its 200 day moving average is $169.15.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.