HighTower Advisors LLC Has $8.60 Million Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,065 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $8,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 103.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,315 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,780 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,173,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $147.11 on Tuesday. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.47, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $177.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.