Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Makes New Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,131 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $106,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on ARES shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 633,100 shares of company stock valued at $111,492,196 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.0 %

Ares Management stock traded down $3.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $182.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 761,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,070,030. The firm's 50 day moving average is $184.22 and its 200 day moving average is $166.47. The company has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a PE ratio of 90.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. 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 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.