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

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target cut by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $212.00 to $207.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.26% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ARES. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.92.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $184.40 on Tuesday. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $112.83 and a 1-year high of $185.49. The stock has a market cap of $57.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.42. 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) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.