Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 177.2% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 345.4% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 199.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HTGC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Compass Point boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $19.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.95 and a 12-month high of $22.04. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.79.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The company had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.76%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 99.38%.

About Hercules Capital

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.