Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Invests $365,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,041 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,767 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in Ares Management by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 51,230 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,069,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $513,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Ares Management by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,305 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $3,311,323.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 230,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,551,176.25. This trade represents a 7.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 633,100 shares of company stock valued at $111,492,196. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $3.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $182.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 761,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,070,030. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $57.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $184.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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, research 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 paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.