Short Interest in Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) Increases By 25.8%

Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,930,000 shares, an increase of 25.8% from the February 28th total of 2,330,000 shares. Approximately 7.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 533,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HLNE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Hamilton Lane from $158.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Hamilton Lane from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Hamilton Lane from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $186.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hamilton Lane from $169.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hamilton Lane presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hamilton Lane

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Hamilton Lane by 229.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,292,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,321,000 after buying an additional 900,283 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hamilton Lane by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,901,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,681,000 after acquiring an additional 863,326 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hamilton Lane by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,401,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,516,000 after acquiring an additional 489,557 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hamilton Lane during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,909,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Hamilton Lane by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,743,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,509,000 after acquiring an additional 413,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.40% of the company’s stock.

Hamilton Lane Price Performance

Shares of Hamilton Lane stock traded up $2.36 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $151.03. 171,470 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 393,794. The company has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.89 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $153.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.08. Hamilton Lane has a twelve month low of $108.34 and a twelve month high of $203.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 4.19.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $168.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.86 million. Hamilton Lane had a return on equity of 36.69% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company’s revenue was up 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hamilton Lane will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Hamilton Lane Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Hamilton Lane’s payout ratio is presently 36.16%.

About Hamilton Lane

Hamilton Lane Incorporated is a private equity firm specializing in early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, middle market, mature, mid-venture, bridge, buyout, distressed/vulture, loan, mezzanine in growth capital companies. It prefers to invest in energy, industrials, consumer discretionary, health care, real estate, information technology, utilities, and consumer services.