Affinity Wealth Management LLC Has $1.59 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Affinity Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Affinity Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,646,573.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,802,571.96. The trade was a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 253,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,312,450. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $197.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $61.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $117.47 and a 1 year high of $197.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $179.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.92.

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.