Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 303 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,375 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 28,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,490 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.08.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $193.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.87. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $119.76 and a one year high of $197.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,356,837.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 229,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,503,162.88. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,646,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,802,571.96. This trade represents a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647. 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.