Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Sells 35,630 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. reduced its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,665 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 35,630 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Price Performance

ARCC opened at $21.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.89. 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. The firm has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) 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 the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.96%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ARCC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

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.