Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 300,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,894 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of Ares Management worth $35,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the 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 $151,030,429. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total value of $18,880,759.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $133.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $77.97 and a 52-week high of $139.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.74. The company has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.65%.

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.