Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $126,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $749,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 238,068 shares of company stock valued at $40,998,846 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.1 %

ARES opened at $155.11 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.09. The firm has a market cap of $48.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio 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.