HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 14,841 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,841 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $1,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,078,000 after buying an additional 323,028 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 1,909.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 327,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,579,000 after acquiring an additional 311,167 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,324,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 28.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,667,000 after buying an additional 84,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,558,000 after purchasing an additional 77,869 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

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Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.3 %

Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.47. 129,645 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 994,686. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $16.95 and a one year high of $22.04. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $20.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. The company had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. On average, research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.65%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on HTGC shares. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.40.

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.