E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Buys New Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB purchased a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,900 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $106,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Ares Management by 134.1% during the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One 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. 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 Stock Down 0.7 %

ARES traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $190.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,163,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,039,461. The company has a market cap of $59.59 billion, a PE ratio of 93.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $183.68 and a 200-day moving average of $165.73. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 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. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,646,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,802,571.96. This represents a 6.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 555,838 shares of company stock worth $96,785,773 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.