Raymond James & Associates Sells 174,315 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 605,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 174,315 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $12,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 154.8% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 28.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total transaction of $261,877.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 1,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,613 shares in the company, valued at $101,202.39. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total value of $261,877.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $18.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.02 and a twelve month high of $21.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.04 and a 200 day moving average of $19.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 1.39.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 57.82% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The firm had revenue of $125.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.40%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 72.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

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.