Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $14.62 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $14,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $230,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,743 shares during the last quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 39,340 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,960,000 after buying an additional 14,293 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $724,000. Finally, Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,206,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.2 %

Ares Management stock opened at $145.07 on Friday. 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 $172.08 and a 200-day moving average of $170.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a PE ratio of 71.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, 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 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 yield of 3.09%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.