Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Given New $174.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its target price cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $176.00 to $174.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

ARES has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.00.

Ares Management Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $168.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management has a 1 year low of $101.44 and a 1 year high of $175.74. The stock has a market cap of $52.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.34.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,950,570.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,466,929.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,958,145.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 222,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,459,354.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,950,570.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,466,929.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 622,640 shares of company stock valued at $91,378,848. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 32.5% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,705,000 after buying an additional 4,996 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Ares Management by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Ares Management by 20.4% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 39,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,600 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 9,510.9% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 5,286 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 5,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the first quarter worth $968,000. Hedge funds and other 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.