Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target Lowered to $166.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $188.00 to $166.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 35.03% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.87.

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Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES stock traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $122.94. The stock had a trading volume of 4,718,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.11. The stock has a market cap of $38.77 billion, a PE ratio of 60.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Ares Management by 2.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,465,433,000 after buying an additional 33,700 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after buying an additional 807,361 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the fourth 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 in 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.