Avalon Trust Co Makes New $53,000 Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 299 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 41,757 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Renasant Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 4,313 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 7,730 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,991,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of ARES opened at $144.10 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $178.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.99. The stock has a market cap of $45.45 billion, a PE ratio of 70.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.