UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Sells 600 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lessened its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares in 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $566,826,000 after purchasing an additional 352,126 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.1 %

Ares Management stock opened at $146.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $46.23 billion, a PE ratio of 72.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.68. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost 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 3.06%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

About Ares Management

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.