Barclays PLC Sells 260,286 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Barclays PLC lowered its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 59.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,817 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 260,286 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Ares Management worth $30,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $251,000. Optimize Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 64,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,467,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Ares Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 124,519 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,043,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 38,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,773,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Bank of America reduced 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 note on Friday, April 4th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.00.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $141.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.63, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.34. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.