Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 38.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,070 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,974 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 12,294 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,176,000 after buying an additional 2,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 238,068 shares of company stock valued at $40,998,846. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $155.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.91. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 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.