JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 292,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 111,073 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.18% of Hercules Capital worth $5,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1,861.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 407,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,960,000 after purchasing an additional 386,367 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,667,000 after acquiring an additional 84,780 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 433,032 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,505,000 after acquiring an additional 62,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 1.8% in 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 period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $20.75. The stock had a trading volume of 931,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,761. The business's 50 day moving average is $19.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.65. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.35. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.72 and a 1 year 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.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. The firm had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.26%. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is currently 79.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

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.