Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Makes New Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,457 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 56.7% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 13.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,957 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Ares Management by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 633,100 shares of company stock valued at $111,492,196. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $182.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a PE ratio of 90.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.47. 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 released 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Ares Management 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.