Cynosure Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Cynosure Group LLC trimmed its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 15.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,026 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,314 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.9% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 13,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.12, for a total transaction of $1,963,908.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 136,467 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,091.04. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 645,388 shares of company stock valued at $103,931,822 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $178.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $164.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.78. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $107.69 and a 52 week high of $178.88. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $55.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

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.