Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,196 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.08% of Ares Management worth $43,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 250,180 shares of company stock worth $39,411,066. 36.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES stock opened at $173.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.29, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.57. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week 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.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 263.53%.

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.