Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by ExodusPoint Capital Management LP

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lessened its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,427 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 76,966 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP's holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,958 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 16,112 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,521 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $442,000. StoneX Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 52,356 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 13,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Ares Capital by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 60,227 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,318,000 after acquiring an additional 3,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Ares Capital Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of ARCC traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.51. 2,512,380 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,982,944. The stock's 50-day moving average is $22.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.98. 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 cap of $13.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 0.77. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.81.

Ares Capital 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.