Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target to $187.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $215.00 to $187.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 26.39% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ARES opened at $147.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $175.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

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.