Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target to $187.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $215.00 to $187.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager's stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ARES. Barclays decreased their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $173.83.

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Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded up $6.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $153.81. 1,724,885 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,216,356. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $175.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.26. The company has a market cap of $48.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $335,858,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.