Ameriprise Financial Inc. Boosts Stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 325,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,812 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.20% of Hercules Capital worth $6,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HTGC. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 177.2% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 345.4% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 199.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTGC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.92.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE HTGC traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 98,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,015. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $22.04. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $17.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.17.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $102.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is currently 120.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 5,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,180.40. The trade was a 100.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Hercules Capital

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.