Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 67.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,385 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $13,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after buying an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,191,000 after acquiring an additional 933,664 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 24.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,754,000 after acquiring an additional 453,657 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.2 %

Ares Management stock opened at $176.93 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $165.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.39. The stock has a market cap of $55.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.53, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $107.69 and a 52 week high of $180.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 602,357 shares of company stock valued at $97,672,269 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.36.

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.