Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Purchases Shares of 60,371 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 60,371 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $10,687,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $230,981,000 after buying an additional 1,276,743 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,258,519,000 after purchasing an additional 807,361 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $166.54. 1,318,949 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,426,981. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $151.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.30. The company has a market cap of $54.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 972,035 shares of company stock worth $160,322,465. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.94.

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.