Secure Asset Management LLC Sells 405 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Secure Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,393 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 405 shares during the quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.92.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $195.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.28 billion, a PE ratio of 90.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $178.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $116.86 and a 52-week high of $196.76.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the business’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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management 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.