Blue Whale Capital LLP Has $40.48 Million Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Blue Whale Capital LLP grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 59.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,651 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 85,088 shares during the quarter. Ares Management makes up about 3.0% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Blue Whale Capital LLP owned 0.07% of Ares Management worth $40,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after purchasing an additional 807,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARES. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 10.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $117.54 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $108.69 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.