Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 6,990 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 413,353 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 6,990 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Ares Management worth $73,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,482,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,147 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ARES traded up $1.50 on Thursday, hitting $184.31. 981,208 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,066,969. The company has a market capitalization of $57.70 billion, a PE ratio of 90.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.58.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 633,100 shares of company stock valued at $111,492,196 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.