Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $1.22 Million Stock Holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Essex Financial Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,905 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $1,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 177.2% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 345.4% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Hercules Capital by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 198.9% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 5,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on HTGC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $20.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.60. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.95 and a 52-week high of $21.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.01%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.21%.

Hercules Capital 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.