American Century Companies Inc. Sells 224,192 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,294,332 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 224,192 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.73% of Ares Management worth $406,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $600,830,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $566,826,000 after purchasing an additional 352,126 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $1.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $153.69. 2,110,393 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,235,831. The company has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.71, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.48. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.