Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Bought by Morse Asset Management Inc

Morse Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 390 shares during the quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 13,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 250 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the first quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 32,668 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,344,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $156.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.00 and a fifty-two week high of $157.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 166.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at $64,276,239.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,276,239.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $6,260,151.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,475,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 604,316 shares of company stock valued at $87,718,000. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.42.

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.