Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 1,600 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $229,056,000 after buying an additional 280,656 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,580,000 after acquiring an additional 175,627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % 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, insider David B. Kaplan sold 30,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.16, for a total value of $5,404,588.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 304,823 shares of company stock valued at $55,063,881. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $168.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $52.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.16, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS 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%. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.