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

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $156.00 to $182.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target points to a potential upside of 13.13% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citizens Jmp raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.13.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $160.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $50.74 billion, a PE ratio of 79.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. Ares Management has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,903,741,000 after purchasing an additional 223,919 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ares Management by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,465,433,000 after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $907,534,000 after buying an additional 66,671 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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