Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Barclays from $217.00 to $142.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 17.59% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.62.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded up $2.72 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $120.76. 1,292,397 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,309,991. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.33. Ares Management has a twelve month low of $108.69 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $38.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.91, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARES. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $126,622,000 after acquiring an additional 32,273 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. 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.