1,273 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Bought by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,273 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $182.70 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.47. The stock has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a PE ratio of 90.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,636,204.12. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 214,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,820,968.36. The trade was a 6.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 633,100 shares of company stock valued at $111,492,196. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

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.