Dark Forest Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,407 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,842,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,329,530,000 after acquiring an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after purchasing an additional 223,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,465,433,000 after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,258,519,000 after buying an additional 807,361 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ares Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $907,534,000 after buying an additional 66,671 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $159.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $165.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $153.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,290,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,393,530. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.94.

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, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.