Mather Group LLC. Boosts Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 253,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,312,450. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,802,571.96. The trade was a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 555,838 shares of company stock valued at $96,785,773. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ARES shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $224.00 price target on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.08.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $189.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $59.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.42, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.78 and its 200 day moving average is $164.99. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $124.11 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.