NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 935 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

NewEdge Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 935 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,078,000 after purchasing an additional 323,028 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,558,000 after purchasing an additional 77,869 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,456,000 after purchasing an additional 62,610 shares in the last quarter. Melia Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Melia Wealth LLC now owns 760,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,276,000 after purchasing an additional 16,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 670,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,474,000 after buying an additional 15,836 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTGC opened at $17.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.50 and its 200-day moving average is $19.46.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.95%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on HTGC shares. Compass Point boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.92.

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.