3,127 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Acquired by Copley Financial Group Inc.

Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.6% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $106,436,000 after acquiring an additional 36,476 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth $900,000. Finally, BNP Paribas lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 13.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 40,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,319,000 after acquiring an additional 4,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES traded up $1.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $184.70. The stock had a trading volume of 193,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,659. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.17. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $185.06. The stock has a market cap of $57.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ARES shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.64.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.40, for a total transaction of $1,930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 376,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,162,788.80. The trade was a 3.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 644,810 shares of company stock worth $111,116,340. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.