Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 23,876 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 88,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,876 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $1,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,115,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,873,000 after buying an additional 290,579 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 1.8% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,737,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,761,000 after acquiring an additional 47,672 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 17.0% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 433,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,505,000 after purchasing an additional 62,826 shares during the period. Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 9.9% during the third quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 408,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,020,000 after purchasing an additional 36,886 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,861.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 407,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,960,000 after purchasing an additional 386,367 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

HTGC stock opened at $20.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.35. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.72 and a 52-week high of $21.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $125.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTGC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Hercules Capital 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.