Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $187.00 to $156.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on ARES. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.07.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $142.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.24, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.26.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARES. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $460,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $1,798,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Ares Management by 4.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,562,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.