Hilton Capital Management LLC Sells 12,145 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Hilton Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,541 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,145 shares during the quarter. Ares Management accounts for approximately 1.2% of Hilton Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Hilton Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $13,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Renasant Bank raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 4,313 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 7,730 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,991,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,622 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,067,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 59,822 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,709,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $3.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $143.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,292,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,208,874. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $45.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $177.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.18. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.