Barclays Lowers Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target to $153.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Barclays from $157.00 to $153.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Barclays's target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.20% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ARES. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.09.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ARES traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $135.16. 1,317,019 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,001,713. The company has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a PE ratio of 56.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $132.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total value of $23,393,301.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,833,750. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total value of $23,393,301.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 872,206 shares of company stock worth $116,269,037. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in Ares Management by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $17,829,000 after buying an additional 29,457 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Ares Management by 2.0% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,512 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Ares Management by 11.1% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 125,000 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,859,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 404.7% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,815 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 31,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $623,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

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.