Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,848 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $17,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after acquiring an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $566,826,000 after acquiring an additional 352,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $174.00 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $54.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 29,198 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total value of $5,133,592.36. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 85,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,079,905.58. This trade represents a 25.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 392,200 shares of company stock worth $70,426,505 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.