Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by Harbour Investments Inc.

Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 398 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $70,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 137.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 11,987 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $745,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 17,635 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,748,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $147.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $175.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.26. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARES. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.83.

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.