Xponance Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,278 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

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

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $147.82 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.58 and a 200-day moving average of $170.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARES. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

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.