Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock Position Decreased by Paradigm Financial Partners LLC

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,953 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ARES. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $133.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $133.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.89. The company has a market cap of $41.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.91, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $77.97 and a twelve month high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,833,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,833,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total transaction of $18,880,759.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

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.