FIL Ltd Buys 84,089 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 413,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,089 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $73,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 31.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $460,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Ares Management by 4.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,562,000 after buying an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 12.6% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,146 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,737,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 46,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,324,000 after acquiring an additional 6,358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.07.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $142.58 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.26. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $44.97 billion, a PE ratio of 70.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.