Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $229,056,000 after acquiring an additional 280,656 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after acquiring an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $31,483,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $155.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.56 billion, a PE ratio of 76.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 238,068 shares of company stock valued at $40,998,846 in the last 90 days. Company 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.