Burling Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Burling Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,354 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,718,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 415.6% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 232,000 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $41,071,000 after purchasing an additional 187,000 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,842,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 100,485 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $17,817,000 after buying an additional 17,155 shares during the period. Finally, Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,144,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ARES. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $159.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $165.00.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $152.83. 388,953 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,392,800. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $148.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.02. The firm has a market cap of $48.20 billion, a PE ratio of 75.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % 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 worth $54,409,915. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Company 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.