2,533 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Purchased by Trueblood Wealth Management LLC

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 647 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 73.9% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 33.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Capital Impact Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Impact Advisors LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,783 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 22,115 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.84, for a total transaction of $2,893,526.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 188,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,702,199.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 494,429 shares of company stock worth $66,106,355. Corporate insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $132.98. The company had a trading volume of 784,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 978,776. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $130.14 and its 200-day moving average is $116.56. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $77.97 and a 12-month high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 155.65%.

About Ares Management

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.