Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Purchases 21,200 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 54.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,822 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 21,200 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $3.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $143.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,292,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,208,501. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.17. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

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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 the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. 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 yield of 3.11%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.