MJP Associates Inc. ADV Boosts Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,506 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $164.93 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $146.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.51.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,009.26. The trade was a 69.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066 in the last three months. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARES. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.50.

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.