Nordea Investment Management AB Has $2.69 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $749,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 13.8% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total transaction of $6,719,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 304,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,102,893.98. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 614,167 shares of company stock valued at $106,716,247. Company insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $175.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.51 and a 200-day moving average of $158.65. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $112.83 and a one year high of $185.06. The company has a market cap of $54.86 billion, a PE ratio of 80.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $212.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.33.

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.