38,650 Shares in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC Bought by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 38,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $727,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 173.3% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 56,797 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 759,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,298,000 after buying an additional 70,235 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 308.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 79,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after buying an additional 60,100 shares during the last quarter. Triad Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth $1,958,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,018,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,173,000 after buying an additional 133,813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTGC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hercules Capital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.21.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.8%

Hercules Capital stock opened at $15.35 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $13.70 and a one year high of $19.67.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $134.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.39 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 59.85% and a return on equity of 16.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Thomas J. Fallon purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.20 per share, for a total transaction of $284,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 150,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,135,239.80. The trade was a 15.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Seth H. Meyer purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.33 per share, with a total value of $100,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 448,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,427,764.49. The trade was a 1.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 90,850 shares of company stock valued at $1,333,812. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high?growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.