PAX Financial Group LLC Sells 430 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

PAX Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 430 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $126,622,000 after acquiring an additional 32,273 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Ares Management by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $117.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $113.24 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.09.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARES. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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 target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.38.

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.