DSM Capital Partners LLC Has $2.48 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

DSM Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the period. DSM Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $229,056,000 after purchasing an additional 280,656 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $459,580,000 after purchasing an additional 175,627 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARES. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $187.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $184.86 and its 200-day moving average is $167.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $58.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 18,232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.54, for a total value of $3,200,445.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,397,923.54. This trade represents a 13.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 18,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.55, for a total transaction of $3,205,367.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 116,348 shares in the company, valued at $20,424,891.40. This represents a 13.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 447,080 shares of company stock worth $80,060,323. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.