Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Acquired by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 80.4% in the 2nd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $176.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $107.69 and a one year high of $176.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $163.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,646,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,802,571.96. The trade was a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,276,239.48. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 518,051 shares of company stock valued at $79,122,336 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARES. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.36.

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.