Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Now Covered by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.84% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.42.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE ARES opened at $147.39 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.54. Ares Management has a twelve month low of $96.00 and a twelve month high of $155.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $46.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.09, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. The firm had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total transaction of $19,791,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,950,570.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,880 shares in the company, valued at $32,466,929.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total transaction of $19,791,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 779,315 shares of company stock valued at $109,487,356. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its holdings in Ares Management by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 19,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 6,576 shares during the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,100,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after buying an additional 4,996 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2,695.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 70,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,364,000 after buying an additional 67,895 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 397,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $52,831,000 after buying an additional 59,668 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently 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.