Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 32,273 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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. owned about 0.23% of Ares Management worth $126,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Ares Management by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $155.11 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.92 billion, a PE ratio of 76.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $182.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.09.

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Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,009.26. The trade was a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 238,068 shares of company stock valued at $40,998,846. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ARES shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their target price 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.17.

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.

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