LPL Financial LLC Sells 328,468 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

LPL Financial LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,274,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 328,468 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $71,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,400,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $30,658,000 after purchasing an additional 458,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.23 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors.