Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 64.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,483,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,933 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,599,000 after purchasing an additional 15,124 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 8,053 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Finally, Siligmueller & Norvid Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $6,621,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Trading Down 5.1 %

ARES opened at $161.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $183.66 and its 200-day moving average is $170.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 214,571 shares of company stock valued at $39,165,379. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.