ZRC Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 31.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,277 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARES. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 12.1% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 48,714 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,011,000 after purchasing an additional 5,263 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $2,223,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 258.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,589 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 7,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total transaction of $23,393,301.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the company’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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 157,837 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.22, for a total value of $23,394,600.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,660,399.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,640 shares of company stock worth $197,862,103 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $154.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.29.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.1 %

ARES stock traded up $2.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $138.35. 554,717 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,483,983. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $92.95 and a 1-year high of $150.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.20. The firm has a market cap of $42.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.13). Ares Management had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The company had revenue of $707.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 166.82%.

Ares Management 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.