52,814 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Purchased by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 52,814 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $9,366,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ARES shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their target price on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.62.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $124.50 on Tuesday. 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 $39.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.33, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $165.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.11. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.