Avanza Fonder AB Buys New Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 14,034 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,484,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,195,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $106,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the third 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Ares Management by 134.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.0 %

ARES stock traded up $3.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $191.69. 641,750 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 858,340. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $112.83 and a one year high of $192.01. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $177.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.35. The company has a market cap of $60.01 billion, a PE ratio of 88.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Ares Management's payout ratio is 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.92.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,802,571.96. The trade was a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647. 41.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.