1,007 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Purchased by Promus Capital LLC

Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $162.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.96.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARES. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Ares Management 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.