Norden Group LLC Sells 132 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Norden Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,519 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 7.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,654 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in Ares Management by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 46,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,773,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.9% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,844 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,350,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 383,510 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,452,000 after acquiring an additional 18,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ARES opened at $131.68 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.48. The firm has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.10, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $133.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.31. 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 (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 net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 155.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ARES. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total value of $601,436.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at $184,263,750. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total transaction of $601,436.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,263,750. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,833,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.