Wells Fargo & Company MN Boosts Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463,805 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,641 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.15% of Ares Management worth $82,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after buying an additional 33,700 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $907,534,000 after acquiring an additional 66,671 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after acquiring an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ARES. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $124.50 on Tuesday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.