LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,130,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 143,042 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.64% of Hercules Capital worth $21,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,089 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 25.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 191,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 38,524 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Hercules Capital by 7.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at $603,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at $983,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of HTGC stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $19.47. 651,874 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,206,751. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $18.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.81.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $137.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $129.47 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%. The business's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. This is a boost from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is 105.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.58.

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.