Shell Asset Management Co. Buys 2,977 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 84.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,491 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $126,622,000 after acquiring an additional 32,273 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,498,000. Finally, Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE ARES traded down $2.66 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $165.98. 1,984,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,426,663. The firm has a market cap of $54.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $149.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.63. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 40,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.37, for a total transaction of $6,774,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,396,450. The trade was a 32.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 685,180 shares of company stock worth $113,177,573. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ARES. Oppenheimer cut shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

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.