Johnson Financial Group Inc. Has $30,000 Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 104.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 in the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $152.90 on Wednesday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.84 and a 200-day moving average of $167.92. The firm has a market cap of $48.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.32, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.00.

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.