Fmr LLC Increases Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

FMR LLC grew its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 807,361 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned approximately 2.27% of Ares Management worth $1,258,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated 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 $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $166.07.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock traded up $2.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $137.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,184,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,277. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $43.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.93, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.85 and a 200-day moving average of $168.97.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.