State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,256 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 3,259 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $10,906,154.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,116,676 shares in the company, valued at $151,030,429. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $10,906,154.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,116,676 shares in the company, valued at $151,030,429. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total transaction of $5,154,680.90. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES traded down $2.24 on Thursday, hitting $133.71. The stock had a trading volume of 735,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,018,621. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is $133.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.93 dividend. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 155.65%.

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.