Blue Whale Capital LLP Acquires 85,088 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Blue Whale Capital LLP raised its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 59.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,651 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,088 shares during the period. Ares Management accounts for approximately 3.0% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $40,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $126,622,000 after buying an additional 32,273 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $117.54 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.33. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $108.69 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.