Meridian Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,373 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Curated Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 199.7% during the second quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,658,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $221,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,434 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the first quarter worth approximately $264,729,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the second quarter worth approximately $209,884,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 722.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $231,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,856 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $176.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.15 billion, a PE ratio of 80.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $107.69 and a fifty-two week high of $176.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.13 and a 200-day moving average of $148.86.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ARES. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.74, for a total value of $2,826,505.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 81,287 shares in the company, valued at $11,928,054.38. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 518,051 shares of company stock worth $79,122,336. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.