Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $14.62 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $14,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of ARES opened at $145.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.25. The company has a market cap of $45.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 $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 worth $54,409,915 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.