Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) Shares Acquired by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) by 64.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Heritage Commerce were worth $33,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 103.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,987 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce in the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $107,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $116,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heritage Commerce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,000. 75.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HTBK shares. Stephens raised shares of Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Heritage Commerce Stock Performance

Shares of HTBK stock opened at $9.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $592.31 million, a P/E ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.92. Heritage Commerce Corp has a 1-year low of $7.66 and a 1-year high of $11.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.95.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.17. Heritage Commerce had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 5.96%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is 78.79%.

Insider Activity at Heritage Commerce

In other news, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.73, for a total transaction of $50,060.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,628.71. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total transaction of $42,080.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 108,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,141,546.24. The trade was a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,747 shares of company stock worth $107,728. Company insiders own 3.99% of the company’s stock.

About Heritage Commerce

Heritage Commerce Corp operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank of Commerce that provides various commercial and personal banking services to residents and the business/professional community in California. Its deposit products for business banking and retail markets include interest and non-interest-bearing demand, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and time deposits.