2,900 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Bought by Certior Financial Group LLC

Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $126,622,000 after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Ares Management by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Down 10.0 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $117.54 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $108.69 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $166.59 and its 200 day moving average is $170.33. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.