JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 2.63% of Ares Management worth $1,284,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after buying an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 58.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,933 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,580,000 after purchasing an additional 175,627 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $182.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.20 billion, a PE ratio of 84.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $112.83 and a 52-week high of $185.06. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $176.00 to $212.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 634,167 shares of company stock worth $109,917,647. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management 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.