Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Paragon Advisors LLC

Paragon Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,879 shares during the period. Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% in the second 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 last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the second quarter worth approximately $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 722.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $231,660,000 after buying an additional 1,526,856 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd 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. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One 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.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $292,425.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 253,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,312,450. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 614,167 shares of company stock valued at $106,716,247. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 3.9 %

ARES stock opened at $175.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $54.86 billion, a PE ratio of 80.76, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $112.83 and a one year high of $185.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $175.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.81.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

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.