PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 128.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 70,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,650 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $12,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Ares Management by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,009.26. The trade was a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ARES. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of ARES opened at $143.28 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The company has a market cap of $45.19 billion, a PE ratio of 70.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $180.78 and a 200 day moving average of $170.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.