Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 575,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $101,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $907,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,671 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $117.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $108.69 and a 12-month high of $200.49. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $166.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.33.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

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.