Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 13,663 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 13,663 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,761,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,621,336,000 after purchasing an additional 273,645 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 7.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,618,459 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $886,004,000 after acquiring an additional 701,738 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 27.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,866 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,068,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $295,671,000 after purchasing an additional 66,003 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,644,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $272,033,000 after purchasing an additional 78,781 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total value of $23,393,301.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the company’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 transaction of $23,393,301.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 143,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.51, for a total transaction of $18,880,759.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.9 %

Ares Management stock opened at $129.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a PE ratio of 54.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is $133.22 and its 200-day moving average is $119.73. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARES. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

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.