American Century Companies Inc. Has $406.17 Million Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,294,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 224,192 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $406,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $147.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.86. The company has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.