Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 1,592.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,433 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's holdings in Ares Management were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,064 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter worth approximately $460,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter worth approximately $1,798,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARES. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $166.07.

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Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $1.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.19. 1,280,547 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,365,942. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.11. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $42.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.