Caprock Group LLC Purchases Shares of 2,174 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,174 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 13,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 250 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 32,668 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,344,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.12, for a total value of $1,421,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 446,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,485,288.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 10,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.46, for a total value of $1,466,846.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,665,245.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.12, for a total transaction of $1,421,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 446,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,485,288.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 779,315 shares of company stock valued at $109,487,356. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.42.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $147.39 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $96.00 and a 1 year high of $155.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.09, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Ares Management’s 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.