Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock Holdings Decreased by Keystone Investors PTE Ltd.

Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 201,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 83,594 shares during the period. Ares Management comprises about 2.5% of Keystone Investors PTE Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Ares Management worth $35,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after acquiring an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $982,058,000 after buying an additional 63,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd 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, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management 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 upped their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 4.1 %

Ares Management stock opened at $153.81 on Tuesday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $174.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.35.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly 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%. Research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.