Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.01% of Ares Management worth $3,329,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $566,826,000 after buying an additional 352,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $155.92 on Wednesday. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $49.18 billion, a PE ratio of 76.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $174.42 and its 200-day moving average is $170.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change 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 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.