Evoke Wealth LLC Buys 235 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,858,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $147.82 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.01. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARES. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.