River Road Asset Management LLC Has $2.61 Million Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,755 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 19,933 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,207,381,000 after buying an additional 206,996 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $376,191,000 after purchasing an additional 933,664 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $308,754,000 after purchasing an additional 453,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $289,376,000 after purchasing an additional 603,676 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ARES. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $166.00.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES traded up $8.05 on Wednesday, reaching $172.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,848,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,528. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $101.44 and a twelve month high of $175.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average is $157.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.19. The stock has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 79.49, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.20.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 20.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,958,145.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 222,828 shares in the company, valued at $32,459,354.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,950,570.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,466,929.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,958,145.24. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 222,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,459,354.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 622,640 shares of company stock valued at $91,378,848 over the last three months. Insiders own 41.89% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Company 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.