Avalon Trust Co Takes $53,000 Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 299 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 41,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,393,000 after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Renasant Bank increased its stake in Ares Management by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 4,313 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 7,730 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth about $5,991,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $144.10 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.99.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

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.