28,456 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Bought by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 28,456 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $5,038,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,006 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,985 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Ares Management by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,267 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 122,306 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $21,652,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm's 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES traded up $2.75 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $147.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,481,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,208,636. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a PE ratio of 72.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.16.

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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's payout ratio 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.