Mariner LLC Has $2.12 Million Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Mariner LLC raised its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,964 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,757 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 4,557.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $230,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,743 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARES. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $159.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $165.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm'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 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 represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last ninety days. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE ARES traded up $0.89 on Friday, hitting $153.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,290,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,114. The firm has a market cap of $48.53 billion, a PE ratio of 75.79, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $149.05 and its 200 day moving average is $168.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.