Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 4,896 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 327,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,896 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $6,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 34,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 3.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 92,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 30,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.7 %

HTGC stock opened at $19.26 on Friday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.95 and a twelve month high of $22.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.79.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.76%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTGC has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Compass Point raised their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a business development company. The firm specializing in providing venture debt, debt, senior secured loans, and growth capital to privately held venture capital-backed companies at all stages of development from startups to expansion stage including select publicly listed companies and select special opportunity lower middle market companies that require additional capital to fund acquisitions, recapitalizations and refinancing and established-stage companies.