Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management Corporation by 2.8% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.23% of the company, valued at $107.78 million.
• Insider transactions reveal significant sales, with Chairman Bennett Rosenthal selling 85,000 shares and CEO Michael J. Arougheti selling 182,108 shares, indicating a 34.18% decrease in Arougheti's ownership.
• Several equities analysts have rated Ares Management stock positively, with recent price targets raised; current average rating stands at "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.19.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 735,155 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 19,897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.23% of Ares Management worth $107,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.5% during the first quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 865 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,360 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.2% during the first quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 17,628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES traded down $2.65 on Friday, hitting $187.80. 928,258 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,347,009. Ares Management Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business's fifty day moving average is $178.49 and its 200 day moving average is $166.61.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is 258.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total value of $5,472,902.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 531,329 shares of company stock valued at $88,173,829 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Ares Management 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.