Axa S.A. Invests $239,000 in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Axa S.A. bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 138,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 27,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in Hercules Capital by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 92,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 30,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HTGC opened at $17.50 on Friday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.65 and a 52-week high of $22.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.34.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $102.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.14%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 5,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $104,922.51. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,180.40. This trade represents a 100.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTGC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.92.

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.