Diversified Trust Co Buys 1,220 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,008 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $106,436,000 after acquiring an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Ares Management in the third quarter worth $641,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,356,837.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 229,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,503,162.88. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 614,167 shares of company stock valued at $106,716,247 in the last ninety days. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $178.63 on Wednesday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $112.83 and a 52-week high of $185.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $55.92 billion, a PE ratio of 82.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.86.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. StockNews.com raised Ares Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.33.

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.