Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock Holdings Boosted by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,643 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARES. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter worth about $264,729,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 86.4% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 280.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,309 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 12,018 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 59.8% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 2,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at $974,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at $64,276,239.48. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 28,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total transaction of $5,078,912.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 87,461 shares in the company, valued at $15,377,393.02. This represents a 24.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 645,388 shares of company stock worth $103,931,822 over the last 90 days. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $178.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.78. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $107.69 and a 52-week high of $178.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

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.