Retireful LLC Invests $486,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Retireful LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,747 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,746 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,070,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ARES. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.92.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock traded up $3.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $191.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 641,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,177. 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 stock has a market cap of $60.01 billion, a PE ratio of 88.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $112.83 and a 52 week high of $192.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $177.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,646,573.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,802,571.96. The trade was a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company's stock.

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.