Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 206 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,579 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $229,056,000 after buying an additional 280,656 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $31,483,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 214,571 shares of company stock valued at $39,165,379 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $162.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $183.30 and a 200-day moving average of $169.96. 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 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

Ares Management 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.