Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC Sells 1,897 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,937 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,897 shares during the quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 56.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,635 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 165,375 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,584,000 after acquiring an additional 5,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 18,463 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $23.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.76. The company has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.