Muzinich & Co. Inc. Purchases 63,214 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 961,831 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 63,214 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for 13.2% of Muzinich & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Muzinich & Co. Inc. owned about 0.15% of Ares Capital worth $21,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock traded down $0.15 on Monday, hitting $23.23. 4,412,591 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,297,976. The company has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day moving average is $22.81 and its 200 day moving average is $21.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.27%. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.