Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Northern Right Capital Management L.P.

Northern Right Capital Management L.P. trimmed its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,269 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 28,171 shares during the period. Ares Management comprises approximately 6.8% of Northern Right Capital Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Northern Right Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Ares Management were worth $18,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 435,103 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,807,000 after buying an additional 129,611 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,036,000. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its position in Ares Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 14,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 9.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,798 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $159.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $165.00.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, 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 transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ARES traded up $2.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $154.79. The stock had a trading volume of 420,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,933. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $147.42 and a 200 day moving average of $167.81. The company has a market capitalization of $48.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.15, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year 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.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.