Duality Advisers LP Takes Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,283,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 797.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 19,545 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1,176.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 4,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 3,952 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $747,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 5,199 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $10,906,154.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,116,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,030,429. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $10,906,154.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,116,676 shares in the company, valued at $151,030,429. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,833,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 3.4 %

ARES opened at $136.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $133.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.38. The firm has a market cap of $42.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.13, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $77.97 and a 12 month high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARES. Barclays decreased their price target on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.17.

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.