Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 97,195 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 97,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $17,206,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $147.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $175.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 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 year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.