Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $207.00 to $215.00 in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.22% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded down $0.44 on Thursday, reaching $189.90. The company had a trading volume of 783,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,859. The company's fifty day moving average is $183.68 and its 200 day moving average is $165.88. The company has a market cap of $59.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.55, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $3,311,323.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 230,225 shares in the company, valued at $38,551,176.25. This represents a 7.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 554,167 shares of company stock valued at $96,493,348 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.