Northern Trust Corp Acquires 147,162 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,191,682 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 147,162 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.38% of Ares Management worth $210,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.4 %

ARES stock traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $160.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,156,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,402,131. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $50.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.25, 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 current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $146.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.72.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $159.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $165.00.

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.