Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 1,381 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 31,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARES. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 797.8% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,263,000 after purchasing an additional 19,545 shares in the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 8.5% during the third quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at about $747,000. Oak Thistle LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 17.3% during the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 5,199 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.8% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 9,567 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total value of $601,436.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,263,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total transaction of $601,436.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,263,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction of $11,299,170.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $133.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.95, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $77.97 and a 1 year high of $139.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.58.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 155.65%.

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.