Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets upgraded Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting growing confidence in the company's future performance.
• The stock saw several price target adjustments, with Wells Fargo increasing their target from $161.00 to $162.00, while the average target price now stands at $164.38.
• Hamilton Lane's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.31 earnings per share compared to a consensus estimate of $0.98, indicating strong operational growth.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

HLNE has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hamilton Lane from $161.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Hamilton Lane from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Hamilton Lane from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $149.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Hamilton Lane from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hamilton Lane from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.38.

Hamilton Lane Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:HLNE opened at $127.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54 and a beta of 1.20. Hamilton Lane has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $203.72. The company's fifty day moving average price is $149.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 4.32 and a quick ratio of 4.32.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $196.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $166.96 million. Hamilton Lane had a return on equity of 29.47% and a net margin of 30.66%.Hamilton Lane's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hamilton Lane will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hamilton Lane

In other news, major shareholder River 5 Ltd French sold 150,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.51, for a total value of $21,976,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 330,015 shares in the company, valued at $48,350,497.65. The trade was a 31.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 22.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hamilton Lane

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hamilton Lane during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Hamilton Lane by 920.0% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 204 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Hamilton Lane during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hamilton Lane during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hamilton Lane during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. 97.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hamilton Lane Company Profile

Hamilton Lane Incorporated is a private equity firm specializing in early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, middle market, mature, mid-venture, bridge, buyout, distressed/vulture, loan, mezzanine in growth capital companies. It prefers to invest in energy, industrials, consumer discretionary, health care, real estate, information technology, utilities, and consumer services.

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