Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 15.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,999 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 6,358 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $7,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 40.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,298 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 7.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 6.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 33,991 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,530,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 22,818 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,041,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 369,160 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $49,202,000 after buying an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $169.64.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ARES traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $182.74. 1,258,817 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,159,903. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $169.17 and its 200-day moving average is $152.17. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $112.03 and a 1 year high of $184.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,356,837.12. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 229,952 shares in the company, valued at $38,503,162.88. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 644,810 shares of company stock valued at $111,116,340 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.