Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 26.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,300 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 22,512 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 531,305 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 5.3 %

ARCC stock traded down $1.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $19.75. 4,225,672 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,240,150. The company has a market capitalization of $13.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.98. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.81.

About Ares Capital

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.