Access Financial Services Inc. Has $1.55 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Access Financial Services Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,159 shares during the period. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Ares Management by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,829,000 after purchasing an additional 29,457 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 11.1% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 125,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,859,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $623,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Ares Management by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 925,113 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $95,166,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction of $11,299,170.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 48,572 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.69, for a total value of $6,445,018.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 543,001 shares of company stock worth $72,551,374. Insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.2 %

ARES opened at $132.96 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.63, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.14 and its 200 day moving average is $116.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued 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 dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 155.65%.

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.