Sunbelt Securities Inc. Sells 3,633 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. cut its stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 20.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,633 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position 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 increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2,067.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 353,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 336,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Hercules Capital by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.90.

Insider Transactions at Hercules Capital

In related news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $19.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.68 and a 12 month high of $21.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.65.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.