Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 292 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,499,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 216.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,253,644 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,083,000 after purchasing an additional 857,245 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,392,349 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,949,378,000 after purchasing an additional 631,334 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. now owns 934,360 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $111,114,000 after purchasing an additional 429,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cat Rock Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at $37,935,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $150.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Ares Management from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded up $1.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $147.10. 664,835 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,055,863. The company has a market capitalization of $45.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.96, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $96.00 and a 1 year high of $152.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $139.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $707.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $814.88 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 21.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 166.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $6,260,151.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,075,000 shares in the company, valued at $161,475,750. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $6,260,151.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,475,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy D. Olian sold 3,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.00, for a total value of $457,878.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,659,808. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 702,930 shares of company stock valued at $97,948,044. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.