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

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $188.00 to $166.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.11% from the stock’s previous close.

ARES has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.33.

Ares Management Trading Down 12.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded down $18.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $135.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,642,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,494,668. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $169.49 and its 200 day moving average is $170.58. The stock has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,687,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its stake in Ares Management by 1,693.9% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 36,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,387,000 after acquiring an additional 34,065 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,503,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.