Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 876,700 shares, a drop of 11.7% from the March 15th total of 992,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 266,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hamilton Lane Stock Performance

Shares of Hamilton Lane stock traded up $0.13 on Tuesday, reaching $110.32. 152,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 257,022. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Hamilton Lane has a twelve month low of $62.86 and a twelve month high of $121.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $112.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.53.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.17). Hamilton Lane had a return on equity of 28.77% and a net margin of 25.22%. The firm had revenue of $125.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Hamilton Lane will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hamilton Lane Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Hamilton Lane’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Oakville Number 2 Trust sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total value of $5,940,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 480,015 shares in the company, valued at $51,841,620. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 26.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HLNE. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Hamilton Lane by 249.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,143,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,682,000 after acquiring an additional 816,102 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Hamilton Lane by 13.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,119,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,414,000 after acquiring an additional 498,381 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Hamilton Lane by 266.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 663,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,414,000 after acquiring an additional 482,663 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Hamilton Lane by 1,742.2% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 505,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,261,000 after acquiring an additional 477,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Hamilton Lane by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 799,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,678,000 after acquiring an additional 416,103 shares in the last quarter. 97.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Hamilton Lane from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lowered Hamilton Lane from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hamilton Lane from $106.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Hamilton Lane from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Hamilton Lane from $102.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Hamilton Lane has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.67.

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.