1,474 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Purchased by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,474 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,207,381,000 after acquiring an additional 206,996 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% in the 2nd 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. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after acquiring an additional 933,664 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $308,754,000 after acquiring an additional 453,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $289,376,000 after acquiring an additional 603,676 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ares Management from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.82.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $161.95 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $96.00 and a 1 year high of $162.37. The firm has a market cap of $50.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 166.82%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.12, for a total value of $1,421,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 446,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,485,288.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.12, for a total value of $1,421,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 446,702 shares in the company, valued at $63,485,288.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 624,316 shares of company stock worth $90,919,400. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.