Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by 2Xideas AG

2Xideas AG trimmed its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,270 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 42,302 shares during the quarter. 2Xideas AG’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 10.0 %

Shares of ARES opened at $117.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.90, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $113.24 and a 1 year high of $200.49.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays lowered their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.38.

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.