LPL Financial LLC Buys 16,001 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,176 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 16,001 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $20,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $335,858,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% in 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $31,483,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.38.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded down $13.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $117.54. 7,645,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,309,335. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $113.24 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $166.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.21. The stock has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.90, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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%. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company's stock.

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.