Financial Management Network Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,388 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Financial Management Network Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,388 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $982,058,000 after buying an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $566,826,000 after buying an additional 352,126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 29,292 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total value of $5,150,119.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,280,340.38. This represents a 25.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 392,200 shares of company stock worth $70,426,505 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES traded down $5.70 on Friday, reaching $174.00. 1,125,436 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,075,472. The stock has a market cap of $54.47 billion, a PE ratio of 85.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $185.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARES. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.17.

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.