Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target Raised to $197.00 at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America raised its price target for Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00, suggesting a potential upside of 28.92% from the stock's current price.
• Multiple analysts have positive outlooks on the stock, with Wells Fargo increasing their target to $202.00 and Royal Bank of Canada setting a target of $215.00.
• Ares Management reported quarterly earnings of $1.03 EPS, missing estimates, yet had a revenue of $1.35 billion, exceeding expectations of $1.02 billion.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Bank of America from $196.00 to $197.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. Bank of America's target price would suggest a potential upside of 28.92% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Friday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $180.81.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of ARES traded up $2.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $152.81. 2,048,204 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,636,275. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ares Management has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $49.93 billion, a PE ratio of 88.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $24,946,933.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,424,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639. Company insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,936,367 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,626,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746,376 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,218,084,000 after purchasing an additional 30,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $596,280,000 after purchasing an additional 244,286 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $491,735,000 after purchasing an additional 152,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $278,941,000 after acquiring an additional 5,424 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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