Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Takes $17.21 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 97,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $17,206,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Ares Management by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $335,858,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays cut their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $147.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.26. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

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.