Assetmark Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,325 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $8,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 238,068 shares of company stock valued at $40,998,846 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.1 %

ARES opened at $155.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $182.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.91. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned 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.

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.