Unigestion Holding SA Acquires New Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,113 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $641,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 40.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% during the 2nd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.1 %

ARES traded up $0.21 on Thursday, reaching $182.66. 1,271,141 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,159,954. The company has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.97, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. 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 twelve month low of $112.03 and a twelve month high of $184.47. The company's 50 day moving average is $169.17 and its 200-day moving average is $152.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

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 $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $169.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.40, for a total value of $1,930,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 376,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,162,788.80. The trade was a 3.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 644,810 shares of company stock worth $111,116,340. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.