Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 152 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,265 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,996 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2,695.3% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 70,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,364,000 after purchasing an additional 67,895 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 397,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $52,831,000 after purchasing an additional 59,668 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,434,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Ares Management by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after buying an additional 38,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $167.31 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $96.00 and a 52-week high of $171.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $152.56 and a 200-day moving average of $143.69.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. The company had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 166.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARES. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.18.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,276,239.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 622,640 shares of company stock valued at $91,378,848. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.