Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Hamilton Lane from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Hamilton Lane from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Hamilton Lane from $153.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Hamilton Lane from $169.00 to $154.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Hamilton Lane from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hamilton Lane presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.29.

Hamilton Lane Price Performance

NASDAQ HLNE opened at $132.30 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $131.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.97. Hamilton Lane has a 52 week low of $111.98 and a 52 week high of $203.72. The company has a quick ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 4.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44 and a beta of 1.23.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.46. Hamilton Lane had a net margin of 30.66% and a return on equity of 29.47%. The company had revenue of $190.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.86 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hamilton Lane will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Hamilton Lane Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 19th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 19th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Hamilton Lane’s payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

Insider Activity at Hamilton Lane

In related news, CEO Juan Delgado-Moreira bought 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $130.35 per share, with a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,314,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,338,166.45. This represents a 0.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder River 5 Ltd French sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.51, for a total transaction of $21,976,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 330,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,350,497.65. This represents a 31.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 22.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hamilton Lane

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HLNE. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hamilton Lane in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Hamilton Lane by 347.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Hamilton Lane by 920.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Hamilton Lane by 80.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 213 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hamilton Lane during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.40% of the company’s stock.

Hamilton Lane Company Profile

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.