USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 3,957 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

USS Investment Management Ltd decreased its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,560 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,957 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $230,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,743 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 12.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.5%

ARES traded up $4.03 on Tuesday, reaching $164.32. 647,049 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,756,116. The company has a market cap of $53.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. 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 one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.43.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 263.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 942,680 shares of company stock worth $155,477,123. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on Ares Management and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp raised 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. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.