Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC decreased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 59.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,817 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 260,286 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.06% of Ares Management worth $30,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Ares Management by 43.0% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $159.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $165.00.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded down $3.89 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $137.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,532,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,129. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $152.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.33. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $43.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business'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 transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.