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

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target lowered by equities research 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 41.22% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ARES. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.38.

Ares Management Trading Down 10.0 %

NYSE ARES opened at $117.54 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $113.24 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $166.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.09.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Ares Management by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after acquiring an additional 223,919 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after purchasing an additional 33,700 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $907,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,671 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.