Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 4,448 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,447 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,448 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $18,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 40.0% during the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 10.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 10,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.47, for a total transaction of $1,476,916.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 191,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,672,650.62. This represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 561,280 shares of company stock valued at $83,030,436. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $168.94 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $52.88 billion, a PE ratio of 77.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $101.44 and a 1-year high of $175.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.42.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.36.

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.