Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by Inceptionr LLC

Inceptionr LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,351 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the quarter. Inceptionr LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 214,571 shares of company stock valued at $39,165,379. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $162.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. 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 fifty day moving average price of $183.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.96.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.