National Pension Service Has $42.51 Million Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

National Pension Service lowered its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 240,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 20,500 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $42,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1,085.0% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 46,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,308,000 after acquiring an additional 42,935 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,304 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $170.93 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 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. The firm has a market cap of $53.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $184.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.35.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 214,571 shares of company stock valued at $39,165,379. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.