Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 177,842 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $31,483,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Ares Management as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $144.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $178.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.82. The company has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.