2,953 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Bought by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 2,953 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.7% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $120,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 124,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $19,346,000 after acquiring an additional 6,476 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $238,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 11.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 807,971 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $125,914,000 after purchasing an additional 85,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 253,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,312,450. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 644,810 shares of company stock worth $111,116,340 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $182.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.17 and a 200-day moving average of $152.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $57.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $110.41 and a 12 month high of $183.87.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ARES shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

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.