Sage Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,471 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Sage Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,471 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000. Ares Management makes up about 0.2% of Sage Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,580,000 after purchasing an additional 175,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $186.11 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $184.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.70. The company has a market capitalization of $58.26 billion, a PE ratio of 91.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,636,204.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 214,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,820,968.36. The trade was a 6.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 573,181 shares of company stock worth $101,459,161 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.