Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 2,445 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,767 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,445 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 51,230 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,069,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $513,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,305 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 26,490 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,689,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded down $3.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $182.70. 761,334 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,070,030. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $184.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.47. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-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 has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $3,311,323.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 230,225 shares in the company, valued at $38,551,176.25. This represents a 7.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,802,571.96. This trade represents a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 633,100 shares of company stock worth $111,492,196 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.