Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 1,381 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,761,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,621,336,000 after acquiring an additional 273,645 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 27.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,866 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 3.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,644,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $272,033,000 after acquiring an additional 78,781 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 91.2% during the third quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,464,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $150,629,000 after acquiring an additional 698,246 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 53.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,461,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $150,303,000 after acquiring an additional 506,935 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total value of $601,436.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,263,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 47.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $133.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a PE ratio of 55.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $133.10 and a 200-day moving average of $120.58.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.17.

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.