Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Upgraded to "Outperform" at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $202.00 price target on the asset manager's stock, up from their previous price target of $166.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target suggests a potential upside of 14.75% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Management from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $212.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.33.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded up $4.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,426,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,924. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $171.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.55. The stock has a market cap of $55.11 billion, a PE ratio of 81.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $112.83 and a 1-year high of $185.06.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $3,201,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 344,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,096,414.14. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,356,837.12. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 229,952 shares in the company, valued at $38,503,162.88. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 634,167 shares of company stock valued at $109,917,647 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 6.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $459,580,000 after buying an additional 175,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Company Profile

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.