Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Given New $215.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $207.00 to $215.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $191.33 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.17. The company has a market capitalization of $59.90 billion, a PE ratio of 88.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last issued 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 return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 253,214 shares in the company, valued at $44,312,450. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 555,838 shares of company stock worth $96,785,773 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third 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 during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after acquiring an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after acquiring an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $566,826,000 after acquiring an additional 352,126 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.