abrdn plc Increases Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1,085.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,935 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $7,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,207,381,000 after buying an additional 206,996 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Ares Management by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after buying an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,191,000 after buying an additional 933,664 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,754,000 after purchasing an additional 453,657 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,376,000 after purchasing an additional 603,676 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.18.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total transaction of $6,719,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 304,202 shares in the company, valued at $51,102,893.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total transaction of $6,719,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 304,202 shares in the company, valued at $51,102,893.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,958,145.24. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 222,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,459,354.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 622,640 shares of company stock worth $91,378,848 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of ARES opened at $161.87 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $101.44 and a 52-week high of $171.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $155.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.45. The stock has a market cap of $50.66 billion, a PE ratio of 84.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. The company had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 193.75%.

Ares Management Company 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.