Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 49.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 80,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,739 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $14,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 28,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total value of $5,078,912.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 87,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,377,393.02. This represents a 24.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 29,198 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total value of $5,133,592.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 85,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,079,905.58. The trade was a 25.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 392,200 shares of company stock valued at $70,426,505 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $174.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.18. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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 boosted their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

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.