Sei Investments Co. Buys 16,144 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,698 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 16,144 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.07% of Ares Management worth $41,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES traded down $3.34 on Friday, hitting $145.07. 1,654,190 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,265,798. The business's 50 day moving average price is $173.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.21. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

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 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%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. 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. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

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.