Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 177,842 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $31,483,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Ares Management at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,571 shares of company stock valued at $39,165,379 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on 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 raised their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $170.93 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. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $53.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $184.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.35.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

About Ares Management

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.