Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 3,124 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 34.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,124 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 73.9% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 210.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 354 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 300.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 400 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $10,906,154.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,116,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,030,429. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at $182,833,750. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $10,906,154.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,116,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,030,429. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,300,871 shares of company stock worth $173,683,187. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $131.35 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $133.23 and a 200 day moving average of $119.01. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $77.97 and a 52-week high of $139.48. 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 stock has a market cap of $40.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.96, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

About Ares Management

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.