Procyon Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 416,585 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,529,000 after buying an additional 20,724 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.2% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,430 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,947 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Ares Management by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 67,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $191.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $177.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.35. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $112.83 and a 52 week high of $192.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.34, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,356,837.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 229,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,503,162.88. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 over the last quarter. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.92.

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.