HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,657 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 774 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $8,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 80.4% in the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 21.0% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $178.07 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $107.82 and a 12-month high of $180.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $55.75 billion, a PE ratio of 82.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.53.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.42, for a total transaction of $1,855,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 414,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,475,860.84. This trade represents a 2.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 29,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.15, for a total value of $5,127,198.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 598,530 shares of company stock worth $100,265,260 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” 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.