Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Boosts Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 1,693.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,076 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 34,065 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 104.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 23,524 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $3,882,871.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,145 shares in the company, valued at $5,470,913.70. This trade represents a 41.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $17,344,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $225,876,000. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 972,035 shares of company stock valued at $160,322,465. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of ARES traded up $0.67 on Friday, reaching $165.57. The stock had a trading volume of 3,004,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,432,464. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.31. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 263.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.94.

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.