Access Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Access Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,159 shares during the period. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,829,000 after buying an additional 29,457 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 106,402 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,653,000 after buying an additional 20,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 403,021 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,927,000 after buying an additional 19,511 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays lifted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One equities 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.45.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.2 %

ARES stock opened at $132.96 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $77.97 and a 1-year high of $139.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly 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. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 155.65%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 15,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.58, for a total value of $2,059,612.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 543,001 shares of company stock worth $72,551,374. 47.34% of the stock is 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.