Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Position Increased by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,636 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Ares Management by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,829,000 after buying an additional 29,457 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 66,950 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,962,000 after buying an additional 16,010 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Ares Management by 2.0% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $1,268,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 178.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,846,000 after acquiring an additional 20,730 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE ARES opened at $133.56 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $77.97 and a 1-year high of $139.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $133.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.74. The company has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.88, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 155.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction of $11,299,170.12. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

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.