Oribel Capital Management LP Makes New $3.75 Million Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Oribel Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 21,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,753,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,465,433,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $907,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,671 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARES. 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 research report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.38.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $117.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.21. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $113.24 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.