Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.17% of Ares Management worth $600,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 24.6% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 5.6% in the 3rd 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. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $900,000. Finally, BNP Paribas lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 40,342 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,319,000 after buying an additional 4,643 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Management from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $176.00 to $212.00 in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $169.64.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $182.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 990,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,253. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $170.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.63. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $185.06. The company has a market capitalization of $57.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.05, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.40, for a total value of $1,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 376,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,162,788.80. This represents a 3.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 659,167 shares of company stock worth $113,702,897. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.