Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 175,627 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.94% of Ares Management worth $459,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 7.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 6.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 33,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 22,818 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 369,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,202,000 after buying an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.6% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,674,000 after buying an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at $44,633,467.94. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 644,810 shares of company stock valued at $111,116,340 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $212.00 in a research note on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.64.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $182.66 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.03 and a fifty-two week high of $184.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.17. The stock has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

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.