Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 27,938 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 970,297 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,938 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Ares Management worth $93,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 70.7% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 19,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 8,235 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 10,987 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 29,954.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,306 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,295 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $582,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $108.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $66.04 and a 1 year high of $112.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.50. The stock has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.27.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $671.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 143.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, major shareholder Ares Management Llc purchased 37,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.27 per share, for a total transaction of $573,495.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,355,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $585,688,454.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ares Management news, major shareholder Ares Management Llc purchased 37,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.27 per share, for a total transaction of $573,495.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,355,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $585,688,454.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.46, for a total transaction of $20,692,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 594,954 shares of company stock worth $9,400,507 and sold 720,874 shares worth $75,082,110. Corporate insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $111.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $97.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $106.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.83.

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.