Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Invests $232,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,490 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 80.4% during the 2nd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 15,798 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total value of $2,276,491.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 155,976 shares in the company, valued at $22,476,141.60. This represents a 9.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 530,453 shares of company stock worth $78,577,065 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $167.50 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.01. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $105.89 and a 52 week high of $175.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.44 billion, a PE ratio of 77.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

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.