Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Increases Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 337,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,899 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.11% of Ares Management worth $40,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 210.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 354 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 300.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 400 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total value of $6,486,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946 over the last quarter. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.9 %

ARES stock opened at $129.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a PE ratio of 54.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $77.97 and a 52 week high of $139.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $133.22 and a 200 day moving average of $119.73.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Ares Management 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.