SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 21.0% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $191.69 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $112.83 and a 1 year high of $192.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.18. The company has a market cap of $60.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.34, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % 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 R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 over the last three months. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ARES. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.92.

Ares Management Company 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.