Gilbert & Cook Inc. Acquires New Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Gilbert & Cook Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% in the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total value of $2,261,649.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,514,328.10. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 15,798 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total transaction of $2,276,491.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 155,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,476,141.60. This trade represents a 9.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 530,453 shares of company stock worth $78,577,065. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $167.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a PE ratio of 77.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $101.44 and a 52 week high of $175.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.89.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

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.