Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 196,285 Shares of Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers has reduced its stake in Prospect Capital Corporation by 43.2%, now holding approximately 257,741 shares valued at $1,057,000.
• CEO John F. Barry purchased 623,300 shares of the stock for nearly $1.99 million, resulting in a 0.75% increase in his holdings.
• Wells Fargo downgraded Prospect Capital's target price from $3.50 to $3.00 and issued an "underweight" rating on the stock.

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its stake in Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC - Free Report) by 43.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 257,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 196,285 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned about 0.06% of Prospect Capital worth $1,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Prospect Capital in the first quarter worth $434,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Prospect Capital in the first quarter worth $25,000. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Prospect Capital by 22.2% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 308,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 56,064 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Prospect Capital by 16.4% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 128,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 18,099 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 48.0% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 589,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 191,354 shares in the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Prospect Capital stock remained flat at $2.85 during trading hours on Friday. 1,760,778 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,074,201. Prospect Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $2.73 and a 12-month high of $5.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a $0.045 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1,588.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 29th. Prospect Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -62.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prospect Capital

In other Prospect Capital news, CEO John F. Barry acquired 623,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.19 per share, with a total value of $1,988,327.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 83,266,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,618,622.94. This represents a 0.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 28.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Prospect Capital from $3.50 to $3.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Prospect Capital Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in middle market, mature, mezzanine finance, later stage, emerging growth, leveraged buyouts, refinancing, acquisitions, recapitalizations, turnaround, growth capital, development, capital expenditures and subordinated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations, cash flow term loans, market place lending and bridge transactions.