Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 46.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,439 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15,013 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Ares Management by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $165.94 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.55. 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 market capitalization of $52.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.75, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066 over the last three months. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.