Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% in 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 Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $459,580,000 after purchasing 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

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $190.36 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a market cap of $59.59 billion, a PE ratio of 93.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.62.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 253,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,312,450. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 555,838 shares of company stock valued at $96,785,773 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ARES. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

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.