UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Sells 600 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lessened its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES stock opened at $146.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $46.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.68.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARES. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 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.