Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,502 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1,544.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $472,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 31.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 26.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $229,056,000 after purchasing an additional 280,656 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $459,580,000 after purchasing an additional 175,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE ARES opened at $186.75 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $185.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.80. 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 fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.46 billion, a PE ratio of 91.99, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities analysts expect 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 $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 18,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.55, for a total value of $3,205,367.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,424,891.40. This represents a 13.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 447,080 shares of company stock worth $80,060,323. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.