Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Has $710,000 Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,426 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 2,279 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised 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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 200.0% during 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $22.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 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 analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 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.