Eagle Asset Management Inc. Purchases 280,656 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,344,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 280,656 shares during the quarter. Ares Management comprises 1.2% of Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $229,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE ARES opened at $175.19 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $107.69 and a 12 month high of $176.31. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $163.13 and a 200-day moving average of $148.86. The company has a market cap of $54.84 billion, a PE ratio of 80.73, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 518,051 shares of company stock valued at $79,122,336 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.