KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $11.14 Million in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 62,900 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $11,135,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th 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. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $173.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $3.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $145.07. 1,654,190 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,265,798. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $172.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.25. The company has a market cap of $45.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.46, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.