Great Diamond Partners LLC Sells 1,349 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Great Diamond Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,366 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,349 shares during the period. Ares Management accounts for 1.1% of Great Diamond Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake 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 buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.08.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $198.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $62.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.69. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $119.76 and a one year high of $199.94.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % 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 link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647. 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.