Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Boosts Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 53.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,735 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,702 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,761,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,621,336,000 after acquiring an additional 273,645 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 27.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,410,000 after buying an additional 1,255,866 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 3.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,644,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $272,033,000 after buying an additional 78,781 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 91.2% in the 3rd quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,464,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $150,629,000 after acquiring an additional 698,246 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Ares Management by 53.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,461,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $150,303,000 after purchasing an additional 506,935 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total value of $601,436.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,263,750. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $10,906,154.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,116,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,030,429. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total transaction of $601,436.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,263,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946 in the last 90 days. 41.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $154.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.08.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $137.16. 26,459 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,031,715. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $80.07 and a 1 year high of $140.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $133.33 and a 200-day moving average of $122.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.13). Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.63% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $814.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 166.82%.

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.