Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $228.50 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,290,741 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 306,181 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.41% of Ares Management worth $228,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $566,826,000 after buying an additional 352,126 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ARES shares. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $145.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $45.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.46, a PEG 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 quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.66.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Company 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.