Barclays Lowers Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target to $217.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Barclays from $224.00 to $217.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.99% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $190.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $59.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $183.41 and its 200 day moving average is $165.35. 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 has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced 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 return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 555,838 shares of company stock worth $96,785,773 in the last quarter. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter valued at $923,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,138,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 10.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth approximately $237,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $257,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.