LPL Financial LLC Purchases 16,001 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 115,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $20,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 181.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 6,525 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Ares Management by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 22,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,471,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,457,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $146.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $171.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.68. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.