BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp cut its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,525 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after purchasing an additional 933,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $308,754,000 after buying an additional 453,657 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 30,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.16, for a total transaction of $5,366,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,220,000. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 666,030 shares of company stock worth $109,779,010 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $173.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $166.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.62. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $107.69 and a 52-week high of $180.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.16, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ARES shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

Ares Management Company 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.