Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 29,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,654 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 46,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,773,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter worth approximately $1,163,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.17.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total transaction of $23,393,301.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total transaction of $5,154,680.90. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,727,419.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total transaction of $23,393,301.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $134.93 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.77 billion, a PE ratio of 56.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $133.07 and a 200-day moving average of $121.07. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $77.97 and a 52-week high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 155.65%.

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.