Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 1,112 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 62.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,886 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,195,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Ares Management by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Ares Management by 134.1% in the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $155.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.92 billion, a PE ratio of 76.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $182.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.09.

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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 238,068 shares of company stock valued at $40,998,846 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.