Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $212.00 to $207.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.92.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $188.15 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $176.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.90 billion, a PE ratio of 86.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $112.83 and a 1-year high of $190.15.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 253,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,312,450. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,646,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at $35,802,571.96. This trade represents a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 97 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.