Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC Buys 496 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 34.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,953 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $126,622,000 after acquiring an additional 32,273 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% during the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.2 %

ARES opened at $145.07 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.46. The company has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a PE ratio of 71.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

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.