Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,502 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 1,544.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,664 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,957 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,266,000 after buying an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 17.2% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,305 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2,533.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 948 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 7.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,265 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 392,200 shares of company stock valued at $70,426,505 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARES. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research 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, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded down $6.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $173.32. 675,526 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,061,116. The stock has a market cap of $54.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.18. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.02. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.