JPL Wealth Management LLC Takes $5.99 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 33,843 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $5,991,000. Ares Management comprises approximately 1.7% of JPL Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Ares Management by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ARES shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock traded up $2.75 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $147.11. 1,481,695 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,202,710. The company's fifty day moving average is $178.62 and its 200-day moving average is $170.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a PE ratio of 72.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 posted its 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 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.