Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 865,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 18,188 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $153,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $36,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE ARES opened at $170.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.