Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,000,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 54,656 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $177,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after acquiring an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $907,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,671 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Down 10.0 %

ARES opened at $117.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 12-month low of $108.69 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.33.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock 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 assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.38.

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.