Donoghue Forlines LLC Purchases New Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,498,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 21.0% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $195.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.09, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $116.86 and a one year high of $196.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $178.62 and a 200 day moving average of $161.51.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.92.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total value of $3,210,874.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,636,204.12. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 214,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,820,968.36. This represents a 6.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ares Management

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.