Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,008 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Ares Management by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,933 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 722.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $231,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,856 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,191,000 after buying an additional 933,664 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE ARES opened at $183.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $170.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.05. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $112.83 and a 12 month high of $185.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $57.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $292,425.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 253,214 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 646,667 shares of company stock valued at $111,847,647. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.