Jump Financial LLC Sells 202,524 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Jump Financial LLC cut its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 150,007 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 202,524 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $3,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.61.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $20.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.90 and a 200-day moving average of $21.95. The company has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date was 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.