EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 3,868 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 16.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,962 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 3,868 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 0.7% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,070,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised Ares Management from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $166.36.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $2.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $175.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,603,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,321. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $168.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.74. 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 Co. has a one year low of $110.41 and a one year high of $180.38. The stock has a market cap of $54.88 billion, a PE ratio of 80.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $3,311,323.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 230,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,551,176.25. This trade represents a 7.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 598,530 shares of company stock worth $100,265,260 over the last 90 days. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.