Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,870 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,842 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 435,103 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,807,000 after buying an additional 129,611 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,036,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % 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 acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $138.36 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.93. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. 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 has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.16, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.24%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the topic of several research reports. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.40.

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.