Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 11,000 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 59.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,579 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 10.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on ARES shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 14,536 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.63, for a total value of $2,116,877.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 631,855 shares of company stock valued at $101,967,913 in the last three months. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.3 %

ARES stock opened at $174.78 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $107.69 and a 52 week high of $180.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.96. The company has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a PE ratio of 80.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 171.43%.

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.