HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 4,065 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,065 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $8,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Ares Management by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 122,306 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $21,652,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Ares Management by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,644 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,310,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $147.11 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $177.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued 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 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.