MML Investors Services LLC Acquires 1,851 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,851 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Hercules Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 2,067.0% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 353,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 336,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 198.9% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 5,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, December 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.90.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In related news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,161,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $19.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.36. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.15 and a 52 week high of $21.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.63.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. The company had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.99%. 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.