AIA Group Ltd Acquires 500 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised 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. raised 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. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 300.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $10,906,154.25. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at $182,833,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $10,906,154.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,116,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,030,429. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,350,871 shares of company stock worth $180,169,187 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE ARES traded down $1.00 on Thursday, reaching $130.70. The stock had a trading volume of 694,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,815. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.17. 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 12-month low of $77.97 and a 12-month high of $139.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $133.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.47.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. 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 2.85%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ARES. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. 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 report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

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.