FFT Wealth Management LLC Takes $349,000 Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

FFT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 31.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 26.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $229,056,000 after buying an additional 280,656 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,580,000 after acquiring an additional 175,627 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.9 %

ARES stock opened at $167.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.15. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

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.