Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Acquired by Guinness Asset Management LTD

Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 50.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,308 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings in Ares Management were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARES. AHL Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $225,000. Jackson Square Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $258,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $910,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at $38,495,125.76. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 over the last quarter. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.92.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE ARES traded up $3.79 on Monday, hitting $191.69. The company had a trading volume of 641,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 858,340. The business has a 50 day moving average of $177.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.34, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. 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 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $192.01.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

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.