Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,294,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 224,192 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.73% of Ares Management worth $406,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 13.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 39,601 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,172,000 after buying an additional 4,734 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 137.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 11,987 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after buying an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $745,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 1.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARES. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $147.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $175.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.86. The firm has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.88, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. 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.