Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lessened its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,846,243 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 18,362 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $336,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 36.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 61,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,533,000 after buying an additional 16,499 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 181.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 6,525 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Ares Management by 4.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 22,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,471,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 122.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 121,222 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,891,000 after acquiring an additional 66,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $145.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a PE ratio of 71.46, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $172.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.46. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted 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%. Research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.