Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 671 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $566,826,000 after purchasing an additional 352,126 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $147.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.86.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.