Jackson Square Capital LLC Takes $258,000 Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Jackson Square Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,460 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,746 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $191.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.20 and a 200-day moving average of $160.35. The company has a market cap of $60.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $112.83 and a one year high of $192.01.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 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 the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors 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 yield of 1.94%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.92.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at $35,802,571.96. This trade represents a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.