Palacios Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 28,710 Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Palacios Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 28,710 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $646,000. Ares Capital comprises about 0.7% of Palacios Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 82.2% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 4,440 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $23.35. 3,658,570 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,499,037. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.65. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.