Payden & Rygel Lowers Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Payden & Rygel lessened its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,700 shares during the period. Ares Management accounts for about 1.9% of Payden & Rygel’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $21,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,465,433,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $907,534,000 after acquiring an additional 66,671 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 10.0 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $117.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.09. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $113.24 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.38.

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.