Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by Beck Mack & Oliver LLC

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $12,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. 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 during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Ares Management by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after buying an additional 223,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 33,700 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the fourth 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. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.00.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $141.35 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $152.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.34. The firm has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. 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 posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.