Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 442,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,634 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Hercules Capital worth $8,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 45.6% during the third 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 during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the third quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the second quarter valued at $229,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HTGC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Hercules Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Hercules Capital

NYSE:HTGC opened at $20.96 on Thursday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.95 and a 1-year high of $21.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.16 and a 200 day moving average of $19.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.97%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.21%.

(Free Report)

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.

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