Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,637,462 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,365 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.52% of Ares Management worth $289,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. TD Cowen cut their price target on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JMP Securities raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.2 %

Ares Management stock opened at $139.63 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.04 billion, a PE ratio of 68.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.54. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. 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 3.21%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

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.