Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Buys 1,701 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 67.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,701 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Ares Management by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $167.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.43 and a 200 day moving average of $169.15. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.