MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Reduces Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH reduced its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 271,510 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 75,351 shares during the period. Ares Management comprises 1.5% of MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.09% of Ares Management worth $48,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,580,000 after buying an additional 175,627 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $195.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $178.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.51. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $116.86 and a 52-week high of $196.76.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARES. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of 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 note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.92.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total value of $3,210,874.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 over the last quarter. 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.