Wells Fargo & Company MN Increases Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 463,805 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 55,641 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.15% of Ares Management worth $82,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Ares Management by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,064 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $460,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth $1,798,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

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

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $166.07.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded up $2.12 on Friday, hitting $137.89. 3,184,457 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,373,858. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $157.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.06. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.