Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $139.77 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $179.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.84.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.