Focus Partners Wealth Invests $292,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,650 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Ares Management by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $164.52. 89,758 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,417,391. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 263.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.07, for a total transaction of $30,971,107.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 350,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,640,827.88. This represents a 34.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 942,680 shares of company stock valued at $155,477,123. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ares Management

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.