Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 36,476 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.22% of Ares Management worth $106,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,674,000 after acquiring an additional 38,047 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 82,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,000,000 after purchasing an additional 26,012 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,729,000. Retireful LLC bought a new position in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $696,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in Ares Management by 36.7% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 53,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after buying an additional 14,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 27,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $4,022,921.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,079,297.50. This trade represents a 49.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.31, for a total value of $4,014,624.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,082,484.45. This trade represents a 49.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 613,326 shares of company stock worth $96,606,744. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $176.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $55.10 billion, a PE ratio of 81.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $107.69 and a 1-year high of $178.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.53.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

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.