AHL Investment Management Inc. Invests $225,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

AHL Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,269 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 722.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $231,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,856 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $229,056,000 after buying an additional 280,656 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.92.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total value of $3,210,874.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $191.69 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.50. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $112.83 and a 52-week high of $192.01. The company has a market capitalization of $60.01 billion, a PE ratio of 88.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

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.