Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,637 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,111 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wrapmanager Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,870 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Ares Management by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 866 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,818,000. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $248,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $167.33 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.14. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year 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. The company has a market cap of $52.38 billion, a PE ratio of 82.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.