Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Acquired by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 32.5% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 4,996 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2,695.3% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 70,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,364,000 after acquiring an additional 67,895 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 17.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 397,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $52,831,000 after acquiring an additional 59,668 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter worth $3,434,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 24.6% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,674,000 after acquiring an additional 38,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,958,145.24. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 222,828 shares in the company, valued at $32,459,354.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,958,145.24. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 222,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,459,354.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total transaction of $6,719,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 304,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,102,893.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 622,640 shares of company stock valued at $91,378,848. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $167.67 on Wednesday. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $96.00 and a 1-year high of $171.76. The stock has a market cap of $51.95 billion, a PE ratio of 75.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $152.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. The business had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 166.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.18.

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.