Hantz Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,338 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Ares Management by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 28,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,490 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $198.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $181.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.45. The stock has a market cap of $62.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.34, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $119.76 and a 52-week high of $199.04. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.08.

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.