Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $749,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,230 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $749,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd 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. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 58.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,636,204.12. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 214,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,820,968.36. This trade represents a 6.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 614,167 shares of company stock valued at $106,716,247. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Management from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ares Management from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $176.00 to $212.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.33.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded up $2.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $181.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,189,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,477. The company's 50-day moving average price is $174.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.05. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $112.83 and a twelve month high of $185.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.46, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

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.