Picton Mahoney Asset Management Has $10.47 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management reduced its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,149 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 724 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $106,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $335,858,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $144.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $45.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $178.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.82.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

About Ares Management

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.