By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 177,842 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $31,483,000.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $900,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 406,363 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,328,000 after purchasing an additional 10,942 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
ARES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.
Read Our Latest Report on Ares Management
Ares Management Stock Up 2.8 %
Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $144.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.99, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $178.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.82.
Ares Management (NYSE:ARES – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.
Ares Management Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.
Insider Transactions at Ares Management
In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
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.
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