Brokerages Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Target Price at $176.17

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $176.17.

Several research firms have issued reports on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

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Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 31.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Ares Management by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,158 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $900,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $3.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $144.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 636,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,170. The business's 50 day moving average is $177.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.18. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.