Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) CFO Seth Meyer Purchases 7,000 Shares

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) CFO Seth Meyer bought 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.33 per share, with a total value of $100,310.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 448,553 shares in the company, valued at $6,427,764.49. This trade represents a 1.59% 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.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $14.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $14.10 and a one year high of $21.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.84.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 63.80%.The firm had revenue of $133.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.43%.

Key Headlines Impacting Hercules Capital

Here are the key news stories impacting Hercules Capital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple insiders (CEO Scott Bluestein, CFO Seth Meyer and several directors) bought stock this week — collectively over ~46,000 shares — signaling management confidence at current levels. See the CEO’s SEC filing for details. CEO SEC Filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts have modestly lowered fair-value estimates and price targets (examples: consolidated fair value trimmed from ~$21.22 to ~$20.31; several firms trimmed targets and ratings), a recalibration rather than a wholesale downgrade of the thesis. Analyst Note
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual bearish options flow — investors bought ~28,062 put contracts (a >1,200% jump vs typical daily put volume) — a strong short-term bearish signal that can amplify downward pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Hercules cut its quarterly dividend to $0.07 (annualized $0.28), reducing income appeal for yield‑seeking investors and increasing concern about payout sustainability (payout ratio ~87%). See company data and dividend details. MarketBeat HTGC
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrades and price‑target cuts (Wells Fargo, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Piper Sandler and others) have pressured sentiment and likely contributed to selling. Analyst Coverage

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HTGC. Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded shares of Hercules Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Capital One Financial set a $19.75 price objective on Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Hercules Capital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded Hercules Capital from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $20.50 to $17.50 in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.29.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,647,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,969,000 after acquiring an additional 28,757 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,823,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,316,000 after purchasing an additional 29,292 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,671,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,464,000 after purchasing an additional 353,092 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,382,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,004,000 after purchasing an additional 209,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 1,335,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,140,000 after purchasing an additional 342,967 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high‐growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.