Jennison Associates LLC Lowers Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after acquiring an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,580,000 after acquiring an additional 175,627 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 555,838 shares of company stock worth $96,785,773 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $191.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.90 billion, a PE ratio of 88.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.04 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

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.