HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 96,436 Shares of Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 96,436 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prospect Capital were worth $120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Prospect Capital during the second quarter worth $27,000. MWA Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $64,000. Family Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Prospect Capital by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of PSEC opened at $4.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.65 and a beta of 0.97. Prospect Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $4.09 and a 12-month high of $6.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $196.31 million during the quarter. Prospect Capital had a negative net margin of 2.23% and a positive return on equity of 12.19%.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th will be paid a $0.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.47%. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -207.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSEC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Prospect Capital from $5.00 to $4.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com raised Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prospect Capital news, CEO John F. Barry purchased 205,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $905,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 72,612,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $319,496,491.60. This trade represents a 0.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO M Grier Eliasek acquired 210,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.81 per share, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 2,131,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,250,735.30. This trade represents a 10.93 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 3,273,173 shares of company stock worth $15,121,420 in the last ninety days. 27.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Prospect Capital Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in middle market, mature, mezzanine finance, later stage, emerging growth, leveraged buyouts, refinancing, acquisitions, recapitalizations, turnaround, growth capital, development, capital expenditures and subordinated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations, cash flow term loans, market place lending and bridge transactions.