Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 290,579 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 10.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,115,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 290,579 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $61,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.2% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 303,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after purchasing an additional 6,671 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 15,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 2,386 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.9% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 29,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 38.1% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HTGC shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 1,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.03 per share, with a total value of $28,992.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,202.39. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 1,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,202.39. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTGC opened at $19.23 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.39. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $15.14 and a one year high of $21.78.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. The business had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.98%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 79.21%.

Hercules Capital Company 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.