Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 867,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 631,769 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $17,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 110,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 3,701 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 40,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 70,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $677,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

NYSE HTGC opened at $19.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.30 and its 200 day moving average is $19.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 1.39. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.02 and a fifty-two week high of $21.78.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 57.82%. The company had revenue of $125.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.72%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 72.73%.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 1,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,202.39. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $1,959,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,161,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,338,045.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

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.