MML Investors Services LLC Boosts Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,851 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 10.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,115,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,873,000 after buying an additional 290,579 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,737,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,761,000 after acquiring an additional 47,672 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.0% during the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 433,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,505,000 after purchasing an additional 62,826 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 9.9% in the third quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 408,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,020,000 after purchasing an additional 36,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,861.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 407,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,960,000 after purchasing an additional 386,367 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target 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.com, Hercules Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.90.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HTGC opened at $19.21 on Monday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.15 and a 12-month high of $21.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.36.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. The business had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.99%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 79.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.