Norges Bank Buys Shares of 2,154,240 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,154,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $381,365,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.69% of Ares Management as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $145.07 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.46. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

About Ares Management

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.