Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Acquired by Morse Asset Management Inc

Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,457 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc's holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after acquiring an additional 223,919 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 66,671 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded up $1.63 on Friday, reaching $170.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,700,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,423,520. The company has a market cap of $53.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.91, a PEG 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 $147.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.61. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for 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 company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 263.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARES. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. 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's stock. Based on 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, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.