West Oak Capital LLC Acquires 6,250 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 1,785.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,250 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 21.0% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded down $7.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $175.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 942,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,100,256. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.25 and its 200-day moving average is $158.20. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $112.83 and a 1 year high of $185.06. The company has a market capitalization of $54.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARES. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.33.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 614,167 shares of company stock valued at $106,716,247. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.