Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 290,579 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,115,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 290,579 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.92% of Hercules Capital worth $61,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2.2% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 303,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,968,000 after purchasing an additional 6,671 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 15,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 3.9% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 29,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 38.1% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hercules Capital news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 1,608 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,613 shares in the company, valued at $101,202.39. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $1,959,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,338,045.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.83.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC opened at $19.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.39. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.14 and a 52 week high of $21.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. The business had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio 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.