MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Buys 2,582 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 357,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the quarter. Ares Management makes up approximately 1.6% of MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH owned 0.12% of Ares Management worth $42,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 8,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Ares Management by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,829,000 after buying an additional 29,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 106,402 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,653,000 after buying an additional 20,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.45.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.98. 784,603 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,045,015. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a PE ratio of 55.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $130.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 48,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.69, for a total transaction of $6,445,018.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 18,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.96, for a total transaction of $2,529,298.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 48,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.69, for a total transaction of $6,445,018.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 543,001 shares of company stock valued at $72,551,374 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 47.34% 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.