Franklin Resources Inc. Has $7.67 Million Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 28.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 387,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,780 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Hercules Capital worth $7,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 137,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 32,929 shares in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the second quarter worth about $3,015,000. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 114,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 10,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 330,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,762,000 after purchasing an additional 33,297 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. The trade was a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $19.21 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.36. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.63. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.15 and a 12 month high of $21.78.

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

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

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