Strs Ohio Reduces Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Strs Ohio decreased its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,798 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 647 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Impact Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Impact Advisors LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total value of $6,486,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total value of $6,486,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,350,871 shares of company stock valued at $180,169,187. Corporate insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.47. The firm has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 55.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $77.97 and a twelve month high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One research 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.com, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

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.