Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 4,448 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 121,447 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,448 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $18,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Ares Management by 23.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,086,000 after buying an additional 8,666 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 15.4% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,109 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth about $968,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 91,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,157,000 after purchasing an additional 19,280 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 65,144 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,663,000 after purchasing an additional 5,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 561,280 shares of company stock worth $83,030,436. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $168.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.42. 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 Co. has a one year low of $101.44 and a one year high of $175.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s 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.