Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $472,000 Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1,544.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew 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 buying an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew 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 buying an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $566,826,000 after buying an additional 352,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ARES opened at $186.75 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $185.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The company has a market cap of $58.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.99, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 18,232 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.54, for a total value of $3,200,445.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,397,923.54. This trade represents a 13.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 18,259 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.55, for a total value of $3,205,367.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,424,891.40. This trade represents a 13.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 447,080 shares of company stock worth $80,060,323. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

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.