Capital International Investors Sells 781,799 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Capital International Investors trimmed its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,168,551 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 781,799 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Ares Management were worth $737,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Ares Management by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $141.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.34. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JMP Securities raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.00.

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.