Graypoint LLC Makes New Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Graypoint LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,187 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total value of $3,210,874.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares in the company, valued at $44,650,754.30. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 614,167 shares of company stock worth $106,716,247 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target 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 given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.33.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $175.24 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $112.83 and a 12 month high of $185.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.81. 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 firm has a market cap of $54.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

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.