Cibc World Markets Corp Sells 2,307 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Cibc World Markets Corp lowered its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,526 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,307 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp's holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,858,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $229,056,000 after buying an additional 280,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Ares Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES traded down $1.94 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $153.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,110,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,232,971. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.48. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 2.92%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.