Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 181.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,525 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the second quarter worth $53,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% in the 2nd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at about $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 666,030 shares of company stock worth $109,779,010 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.6 %

Ares Management stock opened at $173.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.62. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $107.69 and a 12-month high of $180.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a PE ratio of 80.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 171.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

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.