Personal CFO Solutions LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Personal CFO Solutions LLC trimmed its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,954 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 394 shares during the quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $155.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.92 billion, a PE ratio of 76.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $182.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.27. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Friday, December 20th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 232,625 shares of company stock valued at $40,018,344. 1.20% of the stock is currently 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.