Apollon Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 127.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,930 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 73.9% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.08.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.8 %

Ares Management stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $137.27. 1,393,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,043,097. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $80.07 and a one year high of $140.35. The company has a market cap of $42.50 billion, a PE ratio of 61.06, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $133.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $707.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $814.88 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.63% and a net margin of 12.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 166.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total transaction of $23,393,301.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total transaction of $6,486,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total transaction of $23,393,301.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

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.