Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 11,890 Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the third quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HTGC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hercules Capital from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.56.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $20.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.22. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.11 and a 52 week high of $20.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $121.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.86 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 69.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.58%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 72.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total value of $261,877.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $83,367.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total transaction of $33,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $82,986.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total value of $261,877.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.