Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,436 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 12,844 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Ares Management were worth $24,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $335,858,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in 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 buying an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $229,056,000 after buying an additional 280,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ARES shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:ARES traded down $1.94 on Wednesday, reaching $153.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,110,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,232,971. The company has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm's fifty day moving average is $174.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.