FORA Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

FORA Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,981 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,132 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America decreased 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 report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 30,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,180 shares of company stock worth $39,411,066. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES traded down $0.92 on Friday, reaching $164.93. 1,659,104 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,409,920. The stock has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a PE ratio of 81.25, a P/E/G 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. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $146.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.53.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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 $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.