Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective cut by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $215.00 to $187.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 27.04% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $147.19. The stock had a trading volume of 576,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,949. Ares Management has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.58 and its 200 day moving average is $170.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a PE ratio of 72.51, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.