Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Position Boosted by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Overbrook Management Corp boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 134,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $23,807,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $524,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Ares Management by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in Ares Management by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 5,308 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AHL Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.92.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647 over the last ninety days. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $191.69 on Tuesday. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $112.83 and a 1-year high of $192.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.20 and a 200-day moving average of $160.50. 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 $60.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.34, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 171.43%.

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.