Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes $12.50 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 70,627 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $12,503,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,903,741,000 after buying an additional 223,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,465,433,000 after buying an additional 33,700 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,258,519,000 after buying an additional 807,361 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $907,534,000 after buying an additional 66,671 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 182,108 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.07, for a total value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 972,035 shares of company stock worth $160,322,465 in the last ninety days. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ARES. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.94.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $165.57. 3,004,163 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,427,415. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $54.07 billion, a PE ratio of 81.56, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm's 50-day moving average is $151.71 and its 200-day moving average is $167.31.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. The company 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 prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Ares Management's payout ratio is 263.53%.

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.