Short Interest in Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) Decreases By 14.7%

Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) saw a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, a decrease of 14.7% from the September 30th total of 1,700,000 shares. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 411,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hamilton Lane

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Hamilton Lane by 60.5% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 5,657 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hamilton Lane in the first quarter valued at $22,395,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in Hamilton Lane during the first quarter worth about $3,076,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hamilton Lane by 8.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,678,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,801,000 after acquiring an additional 283,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Hamilton Lane in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $538,000. 97.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hamilton Lane Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HLNE traded down $3.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $178.82. The stock had a trading volume of 35,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,108. The firm has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 49.38 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $163.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.85. Hamilton Lane has a twelve month low of $83.04 and a twelve month high of $185.10.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.41. Hamilton Lane had a return on equity of 34.36% and a net margin of 26.99%. The firm had revenue of $196.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Hamilton Lane will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hamilton Lane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Hamilton Lane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HLNE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Hamilton Lane from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hamilton Lane from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hamilton Lane from $156.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Hamilton Lane from $120.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Hamilton Lane from $140.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hamilton Lane has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.50.

About Hamilton Lane

Hamilton Lane Incorporated is a private equity firm specializing in early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, middle market, mature, mid-venture, bridge, buyout, distressed/vulture, loan, mezzanine in growth capital companies. It prefers to invest in energy, industrials, consumer discretionary, health care, real estate, information technology, utilities, and consumer services.