Stonegate Investment Group LLC Invests $217,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,224 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after acquiring an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $459,580,000 after acquiring an additional 175,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $224.00 price target on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total value of $3,210,874.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 254,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. The trade was a 6.71 % 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 worth $99,996,647. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $193.70 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.23. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $197.53. The stock has a market cap of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 89.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

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.