TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $216.00 to $161.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the asset manager’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target points to a potential upside of 22.94% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. JMP Securities raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.07.

Ares Management Trading Up 6.3 %

ARES stock traded up $7.74 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,176,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,155. The stock has a market cap of $41.30 billion, a PE ratio of 64.38, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $162.45 and a 200-day moving average of $169.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Research analysts predict that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $230,981,000 after buying an additional 1,276,743 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 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.