Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,115,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 290,579 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.92% of Hercules Capital worth $61,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 15,689 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 16,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 28,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 55,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HTGC. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.83.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

NYSE:HTGC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $19.13. 1,570,182 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 920,098. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.14 and a 52-week high of $21.78. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $19.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.39.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51. The business had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.04%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at $42,338,045.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 1,608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,202.39. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company 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.