Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Vise Technologies Inc. grew its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 115.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,930 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 target price on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.94.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $160.49 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $150.37 and a 200-day moving average of $167.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick 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 has a market capitalization of $52.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 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 Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. The trade was a 69.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 942,680 shares of company stock worth $155,477,123 over the last three months. 36.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.