Sigma Planning Corp Decreases Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 47.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 88,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 80,535 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Hercules Capital worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,580,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,015,000 after buying an additional 59,263 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Hercules Capital by 6.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,033,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,389,000 after buying an additional 116,684 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,567.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,345,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,008 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,006,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,524,000 after purchasing an additional 23,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Melia Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,922,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HTGC traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.86. 897,526 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 904,432. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.40 and a 12 month high of $18.92.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 73.26%. The business had revenue of $122.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.18%. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is 69.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities raised their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Compass Point lowered Hercules Capital from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $17.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.00.

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.