BluePointe Capital Management LLC Sells 6,064 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

BluePointe Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 112,422 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 6,064 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 1.4% of BluePointe Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. BluePointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $812,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.91. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.83%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.