Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $1.28 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,227 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $143.96 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.17. The company has a market capitalization of $45.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 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.