Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in shares of Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,127,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 811,246 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Prospect Capital were worth $35,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 144.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 21,747 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 131.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 49,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 27,935 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $1,086,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 92,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 66,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 107.6% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 20,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 10,762 shares in the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prospect Capital Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PSEC opened at $4.37 on Friday. Prospect Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $4.09 and a 12-month high of $5.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of -16.81 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.80.

Prospect Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -207.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prospect Capital

In other news, COO M Grier Eliasek acquired 210,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.81 per share, with a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 2,131,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,250,735.30. This represents a 10.93 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John F. Barry acquired 1,000,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.59 per share, for a total transaction of $4,590,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 75,465,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,385,658.15. This trade represents a 1.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 5,067,273 shares of company stock valued at $22,795,460 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

About Prospect Capital

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in middle market, mature, mezzanine finance, later stage, emerging growth, leveraged buyouts, refinancing, acquisitions, recapitalizations, turnaround, growth capital, development, capital expenditures and subordinated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations, cash flow term loans, market place lending and bridge transactions.