13F-HR 1 HR13F4Q12.txt HR13F4Q12 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 Form 13F Form 13F COVER PAGE Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter Ended: 12/31/2012 Check here if Amendment []; Amendment Number: ------- This Amendment (Check only one.): [] is a restatement. [] adds new holdings entries. Institutional Investment Manager Filing this Report: Name: Ariel Investments, LLC Address: 200 E. Randolph Drive Suite 2900 Chicago, IL 60601 Form 13F File Number: 28-04003 The institutional investment manager filing this report and the person by whom it is signed hereby represent that the person signing the report is authorized to submit it, that all information contained herein is true, correct and complete, and that it is understood that all required items, statements, schedules, lists, and tables, are considered integral parts of this submission. Persons Signing this Report on Behalf of Reporting Manager: Name: Wendy D. Fox Title: Vice President/Chief Compliance Officer Phone: 312-726-0140 Signature, Place, and Date of Signing: /s/ Wendy D. Fox Chicago, IL 2/14/2013 --------------------------------- --------------------------------- ---------- [Signature] [City, State] [Date] Report Type (Check only one): [X] 13F HOLDINGS REPORT. (Check here if all holdings of this reporting manager are reported in this report.) [ ] 13F NOTICE. (Check here if no holdings reported are in this report, and all holdings are reported by other reporting manager(s).) [ ] 13F COMBINATION REPORT. (Check here if a portion of the holdings for this reporting manager are reported in this report and a portion are reported by other reporting manager(s).) List of Other Managers Reporting for this Manager: Form 13F SUMMARY PAGE Report Summary: Number of Other Included Managers: 0 Form 13F Information Table Entry Total: 133 Form 13F Information Table Value Total: $ 4,777,850 -------------- (In Thousands) List of Other Included Managers: Provide a numbered list of the name(s) and 13F file number(s) of all institutional investment managers with respect to which this report is filed, other than the manager filing this report. NONE

FORM 13F INFORMATION TABLE COLUMN 1 COLUMN 2 COLUMN 3 COLUMN 4 COLUMN 5 COLUMN 6 COLUMN 7 COLUMN 8 ------------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- ----------------- ---------- -------- ----------------------- VALUE SHRS OR SH/ PUT/ INVESTMENT OTHER VOTING AUTHORITY NAME OF ISSUER TITLE OF CLASS CUSIP (x$1000) PRN AMT PRN CALL DISCRETION MANAGERS SOLE SHARED NONE ------------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- -------- --- ---- ---------- -------- -------- ------ ------- Accenture plc COMMON G1151C101 19857 298595 SH SOLE 0 293562 0 5033 AFLAC Inc. COMMON 001055102 59537 1120811 SH SOLE 0 1100801 0 20010 Albany Molecular Research, Inc. COMMON 012423109 1969 372844 SH SOLE 0 175059 0 197785 American Electric Technologies, Inc. COMMON 025576109 1504 298471 SH SOLE 0 142458 0 156013 American Reprographics Co. COMMON 029263100 2232 871884 SH SOLE 0 432081 0 439803 Anixter Intl Inc. COMMON 035290105 28597 446974 SH SOLE 0 413674 0 33300 Apollo Group, Inc. COMMON 037604105 21426 1024207 SH SOLE 0 1003247 0 20960 Astro-Med, Inc. COMMON 04638F108 2863 283755 SH SOLE 0 133232 0 150523 AV Homes, Inc. COMMON 00234P102 4174 293521 SH SOLE 0 148546 0 144975 Ballantyne Strong, Inc. COMMON 058516105 3223 976598 SH SOLE 0 484777 0 491821 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. COMMON 064058100 4243 165085 SH SOLE 0 165085 0 0 Baxter Intl Inc. COMMON 071813109 2551 38276 SH SOLE 0 38276 0 0 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. COMMON 084670702 2285 25470 SH SOLE 0 25470 0 0 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. COMMON 090572207 103544 985662 SH SOLE 0 949687 0 35975 Blackstone Group L.P. COMMON 09253U108 56493 3623641 SH SOLE 0 3596956 0 26685 Blount Intl, Inc. COMMON 095180105 22053 1394020 SH SOLE 0 1217590 0 176430 Bob Evans Farms, Inc. COMMON 096761101 8753 217737 SH SOLE 0 191537 0 26200 Bolt Technology Corp. COMMON 097698104 2073 145236 SH SOLE 0 68878 0 76358 Brady Corp. COMMON 104674106 66973 2005171 SH SOLE 0 1916766 0 88405 Brink's Co. COMMON 109696104 23432 821306 SH SOLE 0 720686 0 100620 Bristow Group Inc. COMMON 110394103 37225 693712 SH SOLE 0 663912 0 29800 Callaway Golf Co. COMMON 131193104 1977 304200 SH SOLE 0 152200 0 152000 Carnival Corp. COMMON 143658300 8248 224317 SH SOLE 0 220114 0 4203 CBRE Group, Inc. COMMON 12504L109 90913 4568493 SH SOLE 0 4539723 0 28770 CBS Corp. COMMON 124857202 49876 1310794 SH SOLE 0 1285402 0 25392 Charles River Laboratories Intl Inc. COMMON 159864107 102815 2743925 SH SOLE 0 2630310 0 113615 Chesapeake Energy Corp. COMMON 165167107 9236 555709 SH SOLE 0 530274 0 25435 China Mobile Ltd. ADR ADR 16941M109 331 5644 SH SOLE 0 5644 0 0 City National Corp. COMMON 178566105 78326 1581713 SH SOLE 0 1526697 0 55016 Contango Oil & Gas Co. COMMON 21075N204 111237 2625987 SH SOLE 0 2513102 0 112885 Cowen Group, Inc. COMMON 223622101 4206 1716745 SH SOLE 0 877645 0 839100 Crown Crafts, Inc. COMMON 228309100 2112 422405 SH SOLE 0 198805 0 223600 CSP Inc. COMMON 126389105 2103 329573 SH SOLE 0 160407 0 169166 Dell Inc. COMMON 24702R101 54101 5335379 SH SOLE 0 5246154 0 89225 DeVry Inc. COMMON 251893103 94710 3991145 SH SOLE 0 3868110 0 123035 Dun & Bradstreet Corp. COMMON 26483E100 69898 888718 SH SOLE 0 870333 0 18385 Edgewater Technology Inc. COMMON 280358102 3522 926772 SH SOLE 0 412554 0 514218 Erickson Air-Crane, Inc. COMMON 29482P100 1513 179465 SH SOLE 0 84265 0 95200 Exxon Mobil Corp. COMMON 30231G102 5862 67730 SH SOLE 0 67730 0 0 Fair Isaac Corp. COMMON 303250104 74213 1765709 SH SOLE 0 1695739 0 69970 First American Financial Corp. COMMON 31847R102 191934 7967365 SH SOLE 0 7681345 0 286020 Franklin Resources, Inc. COMMON 354613101 50919 405081 SH SOLE 0 396880 0 8201 Furmanite Corp. COMMON 361086101 3489 649691 SH SOLE 0 311191 0 338500 Gaiam, Inc. COMMON 36268Q103 3288 1040455 SH SOLE 0 526355 0 514100 Gannett Co., Inc. COMMON 364730101 159109 8834480 SH SOLE 0 8509929 0 324551 Gilead Sciences, Inc. COMMON 375558103 443 6028 SH SOLE 0 6028 0 0 GlaxoSmithKline PLC ADR ADR 37733W105 232 5347 SH SOLE 0 5347 0 0 Goldman, Sachs & Co. COMMON 38141G104 5315 41670 SH SOLE 0 41670 0 0 Hardinge Inc. COMMON 412324303 2196 220934 SH SOLE 0 103984 0 116950 HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. COMMON 404132102 11481 308556 SH SOLE 0 267564 0 40992 Horace Mann Educators Corp. COMMON 440327104 8317 416689 SH SOLE 0 377814 0 38875 Hospira, Inc. COMMON 441060100 99941 3199125 SH SOLE 0 3168905 0 30220 IDEX Corp. COMMON 45167R104 67568 1452134 SH SOLE 0 1374811 0 77323 Illinois Tool Works Inc. COMMON 452308109 28683 471687 SH SOLE 0 461912 0 9775 Imation Corp. COMMON 45245A107 4421 946702 SH SOLE 0 462445 0 484257 Interface, Inc. COMMON 458665304 75189 4678845 SH SOLE 0 4465560 0 213285 International Business Machines COMMON 459200101 4423 23092 SH SOLE 0 23092 0 0 Corp. International Game Technology COMMON 459902102 115674 8163298 SH SOLE 0 8083768 0 79530 International Speedway Corp. COMMON 460335201 137449 4971140 SH SOLE 0 4800480 0 170660

FORM 13F INFORMATION TABLE COLUMN 1 COLUMN 2 COLUMN 3 COLUMN 4 COLUMN 5 COLUMN 6 COLUMN 7 COLUMN 8 ------------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- ----------------- ---------- -------- ----------------------- VALUE SHRS OR SH/ PUT/ INVESTMENT OTHER VOTING AUTHORITY NAME OF ISSUER TITLE OF CLASS CUSIP (x$1000) PRN AMT PRN CALL DISCRETION MANAGERS SOLE SHARED NONE ------------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- -------- --- ---- ---------- -------- -------- ------ ------- Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. COMMON 460690100 187052 16973906 SH SOLE 0 16415419 0 558487 J.M. Smucker Co. COMMON 832696405 53045 615091 SH SOLE 0 607621 0 7470 JAKKS Pacific, Inc. COMMON 47012E106 2432 194266 SH SOLE 0 97262 0 97004 Janus Capital Group Inc. COMMON 47102X105 159367 18704998 SH SOLE 0 18098238 0 606760 Johnson & Johnson COMMON 478160104 5653 80642 SH SOLE 0 80642 0 0 Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. COMMON 48020Q107 166691 1985835 SH SOLE 0 1913314 0 72521 JPMorgan Chase & Co. COMMON 46625H100 4982 113296 SH SOLE 0 113296 0 0 KKR & Co. L.P. COMMON 48248M102 119392 7839237 SH SOLE 0 7813587 0 25650 Landec Corp. COMMON 514766104 2962 311484 SH SOLE 0 157674 0 153810 Lazard Ltd COMMON G54050102 187054 6268576 SH SOLE 0 6097181 0 171395 Life Technologies Corp. COMMON 53217V109 92124 1878931 SH SOLE 0 1864306 0 14625 Littelfuse, Inc. COMMON 537008104 61607 998339 SH SOLE 0 938889 0 59450 Lockheed Martin Corp. COMMON 539830109 5802 62870 SH SOLE 0 62870 0 0 Madison Square Garden Co. COMMON 55826P100 104238 2350340 SH SOLE 0 2256825 0 93515 Markel Corp. COMMON 570535104 7544 17405 SH SOLE 0 14931 0 2474 Market Leader, Inc. COMMON 57056R103 7024 1072306 SH SOLE 0 535735 0 536571 Matthews Intl Corp. COMMON 577128101 10090 314333 SH SOLE 0 273508 0 40825 MB Financial, Inc. COMMON 55264U108 275 13900 SH SOLE 0 13900 0 0 McCormick & Co., Inc. COMMON 579780206 17573 276605 SH SOLE 0 276605 0 0 Meredith Corp. COMMON 589433101 59035 1713646 SH SOLE 0 1635311 0 78335 Microsoft Corp. COMMON 594918104 6536 244720 SH SOLE 0 244720 0 0 Middleby Corp. COMMON 596278101 8639 67384 SH SOLE 0 61884 0 5500 Mitcham Industries, Inc. COMMON 606501104 27986 2053277 SH SOLE 0 1605633 0 447644 Mohawk Industries, Inc. COMMON 608190104 56305 622361 SH SOLE 0 619641 0 2720 Morgan Stanley COMMON 617446448 6300 329500 SH SOLE 0 329500 0 0 Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. COMMON 62541B101 2324 115005 SH SOLE 0 57205 0 57800 National Oilwell Varco COMMON 637071101 2780 40670 SH SOLE 0 40670 0 0 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. COMMON 651229106 87388 3924023 SH SOLE 0 3888388 0 35635 Nokia Corp. ADR ADR 654902204 391 98984 SH SOLE 0 98984 0 0 Nordstrom, Inc. COMMON 655664100 36636 684788 SH SOLE 0 678338 0 6450 Northern Trust Corp. COMMON 665859104 73136 1458048 SH SOLE 0 1457813 0 235 NVIDIA Corp. COMMON 67066G104 219 17843 SH SOLE 0 17843 0 0 Omnicom Group Inc. COMMON 681919106 35652 713614 SH SOLE 0 702023 0 11591 ORBCOMM Inc. COMMON 68555P100 2694 687316 SH SOLE 0 349816 0 337500 Orion Energy Systems, Inc. COMMON 686275108 3399 2047393 SH SOLE 0 1043145 0 1004248 PCTEL, Inc. COMMON 69325Q105 5897 819087 SH SOLE 0 400787 0 418300 Pendrell Corp. COMMON 70686R104 2267 1784833 SH SOLE 0 908935 0 875898 Perceptron, Inc. COMMON 71361F100 3707 628255 SH SOLE 0 275051 0 353204 Pervasive Software Inc. COMMON 715710109 6316 708893 SH SOLE 0 346683 0 362210 PrivateBancorp, Inc. COMMON 742962103 8953 584413 SH SOLE 0 513813 0 70600 QLogic Corp. COMMON 747277101 272 27938 SH SOLE 0 27938 0 0 Quest Diagnostics Inc. COMMON 74834L100 312 5359 SH SOLE 0 5359 0 0 Red Lion Hotels Corp. COMMON 756764106 1887 239171 SH SOLE 0 112403 0 126768 Rentech, Inc. COMMON 760112102 3016 1146853 SH SOLE 0 581994 0 564859 Rosetta Stone Inc. COMMON 777780107 4148 336165 SH SOLE 0 169925 0 166240 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. COMMON V7780T103 61309 1803206 SH SOLE 0 1797351 0 5855 Royal Dutch Shell plc ADR ADR 780259206 213 3092 SH SOLE 0 3092 0 0 Ryanair Holdings plc ADR ADR 783513104 572 16696 SH SOLE 0 16696 0 0 Sigma Designs, Inc. COMMON 826565103 2172 421655 SH SOLE 0 214355 0 207300 Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc. COMMON 829073105 73124 2230058 SH SOLE 0 2137723 0 92335 Snap-On Inc. COMMON 833034101 70003 886226 SH SOLE 0 873431 0 12795 Sotheby's COMMON 835898107 73336 2181334 SH SOLE 0 2099254 0 82080 St. Jude Medical, Inc. COMMON 790849103 48775 1349601 SH SOLE 0 1324866 0 24735 Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. COMMON 854502101 33830 457351 SH SOLE 0 447727 0 9624 Symmetry Medical Inc. COMMON 871546206 47888 4552076 SH SOLE 0 4341576 0 210500 T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. COMMON 74144T108 21737 333807 SH SOLE 0 327898 0 5909 Target Corp. COMMON 87612E106 6067 102535 SH SOLE 0 102535 0 0 Team, Inc. COMMON 878155100 38032 999797 SH SOLE 0 839377 0 160420 Tessera Technologies, Inc. COMMON 88164L100 211 12800 SH SOLE 0 12800 0 0 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. COMMON 883556102 67987 1065956 SH SOLE 0 1047000 0 18956

FORM 13F INFORMATION TABLE COLUMN 1 COLUMN 2 COLUMN 3 COLUMN 4 COLUMN 5 COLUMN 6 COLUMN 7 COLUMN 8 ------------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- ----------------- ---------- -------- ----------------------- VALUE SHRS OR SH/ PUT/ INVESTMENT OTHER VOTING AUTHORITY NAME OF ISSUER TITLE OF CLASS CUSIP (x$1000) PRN AMT PRN CALL DISCRETION MANAGERS SOLE SHARED NONE ------------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- -------- --- ---- ---------- -------- -------- ------ ------- Tiffany & Co. COMMON 886547108 18448 321728 SH SOLE 0 312978 0 8750 Towers Watson COMMON 891894107 37589 668725 SH SOLE 0 656515 0 12210 Toyota Motor Corp. ADR ADR 892331307 419 4489 SH SOLE 0 4489 0 0 Vanguard MSCI EAFE ETF COMMON 921943858 203 5753 SH SOLE 0 5753 0 0 Versar Inc. COMMON 925297103 3707 960358 SH SOLE 0 403023 0 557335 Viacom, Inc. COMMON 92553P201 61319 1162672 SH SOLE 0 1141187 0 21485 Vical Inc. COMMON 925602104 4506 1548357 SH SOLE 0 782257 0 766100 Walgreen Co. COMMON 931422109 6086 164450 SH SOLE 0 164450 0 0 Walt Disney Co. COMMON 254687106 2873 57705 SH SOLE 0 57705 0 0 Washington Post Co. COMMON 939640108 36307 99414 SH SOLE 0 99199 0 215 Western Union Co. COMMON 959802109 42387 3114408 SH SOLE 0 3058338 0 56070 WMS Industries Inc. COMMON 929297109 75223 4298430 SH SOLE 0 4141730 0 156700 XO Group Inc. COMMON 983772104 6045 649991 SH SOLE 0 309691 0 340300 Zimmer Holdings, Inc. COMMON 98956P102 86105 1291711 SH SOLE 0 1273251 0 18460