Golden State Equity Partners Boosts Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Ares Management were worth $725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $224.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.08.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $198.19 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.05 billion, a PE ratio of 91.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $199.94.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total transaction of $3,210,874.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.