Chase Investment Counsel Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp lessened its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 484 shares during the quarter. Ares Management makes up approximately 1.7% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. FMR LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,866 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $93,682,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 91.2% in the 3rd quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,464,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $150,629,000 after buying an additional 698,246 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,461,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $150,303,000 after buying an additional 506,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,559,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total value of $5,154,680.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 96,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,727,419.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total transaction of $5,154,680.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,727,419.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total value of $23,393,301.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.17.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $134.32. 237,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,002,582. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $77.97 and a 52-week high of $139.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.89. The firm has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.91, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 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.