Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 5,404 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 31.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,750 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter worth $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 80.4% in the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $183.70. 1,244,302 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,159,604. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $170.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.76. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $112.83 and a twelve month high of $185.06.

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 company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 253,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,312,450. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 646,667 shares of company stock worth $111,847,647 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ARES shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Management from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $176.00 to $212.00 in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.64.

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.