Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 499,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 56,932 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.28% of Hercules Capital worth $9,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HTGC. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 205.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,265,000 after purchasing an additional 946,700 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,002,000 after purchasing an additional 488,172 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,621,000 after purchasing an additional 406,944 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $7,755,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 5,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $104,922.51. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $209,180.40. This trade represents a 100.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on HTGC shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.92.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.61. 586,830 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,118,368. The firm's fifty day moving average is $17.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $102.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 45.23% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The firm's quarterly 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 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.60%. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is presently 120.30%.

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.