Creative Planning Raises Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,957 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Curated Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 199.7% in the 2nd quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,658,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $221,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,434 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $264,729,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of 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 period. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $209,884,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 722.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $231,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,856 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.18.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $169.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.51 billion, a PE ratio of 76.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $153.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.12. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $96.00 and a 52 week high of $171.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 166.82%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,958,145.24. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 222,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,459,354.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 304,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,102,893.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 222,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,459,354.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 622,640 shares of company stock valued at $91,378,848 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.