O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,330 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,661 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Ares Management by 3.7% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $460,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its holdings in Ares Management by 51.8% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 6,151 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARES. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.38.

Ares Management Stock Down 10.0 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $117.54 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $113.24 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last 90 days. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.