Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 27,140 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 47.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,140 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $391,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Hercules Capital by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 5,487 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 420,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,443,000 after acquiring an additional 47,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sharpepoint LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,308,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Compass Point upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.92.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTGC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.59. 238,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,063,980. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 120.30%.

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.