Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 13,663 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 13,663 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 210.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 354 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 300.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 400 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total transaction of $6,486,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total transaction of $6,486,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 47.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $129.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a PE ratio of 54.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.73. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

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.