Creekmur Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 923 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 923 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $110,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Pathstone Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $369,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 21,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 40,622 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,179,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Ares Management by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 24,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 8,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 41,448 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,264,000 after buying an additional 11,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 22,115 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.84, for a total value of $2,893,526.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 188,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,702,199.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 22,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.86, for a total transaction of $2,892,398.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 73,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,681,284.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 22,115 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.84, for a total transaction of $2,893,526.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 188,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,702,199.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,564,673 shares of company stock valued at $211,998,778. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $154.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.29.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $132.63. 1,315,501 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,324,976. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $137.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.07. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $90.29 and a twelve month high of $150.12. The firm has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a PE ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.21.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.13). Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 166.82%.

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.