Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC cut its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,932 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $39,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $153.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $48.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.77, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.35. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ARES shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Ares Management Company 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.