Short Interest in Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) Drops By 14.7%

Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) saw a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, a drop of 14.7% from the September 30th total of 1,700,000 shares. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 411,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Hamilton Lane from $140.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Hamilton Lane from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Hamilton Lane from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Hamilton Lane from $120.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Hamilton Lane from $156.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Hamilton Lane presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.50.

Institutional Trading of Hamilton Lane

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hamilton Lane by 8.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,678,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,801,000 after purchasing an additional 283,190 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hamilton Lane during the 1st quarter worth about $22,395,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hamilton Lane by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 580,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,772,000 after acquiring an additional 135,040 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Hamilton Lane in the first quarter valued at approximately $11,445,000. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Hamilton Lane during the first quarter valued at approximately $9,724,000. Institutional investors own 97.40% of the company’s stock.

Hamilton Lane Stock Performance

HLNE stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $182.52. The company had a trading volume of 8,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 310,981. Hamilton Lane has a one year low of $81.29 and a one year high of $183.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.49 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.34.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.41. Hamilton Lane had a net margin of 26.99% and a return on equity of 34.36%. The firm had revenue of $196.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.84 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Hamilton Lane will post 4.9 EPS for the current year.

Hamilton Lane Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hamilton Lane’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.12%.

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.