Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $167.50 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.01. The firm has a market cap of $52.44 billion, a PE ratio of 77.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $105.89 and a 12-month high of $175.74. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,276,239.48. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 530,453 shares of company stock valued at $78,577,065 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

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.