Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 232,559 Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 232,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.38% of Heritage Commerce as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Heritage Commerce by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,965,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,421,000 after purchasing an additional 61,630 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 216,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,139,000 after buying an additional 14,466 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Heritage Commerce by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,350,000 after buying an additional 170,989 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Heritage Commerce by 55.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 103,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 36,997 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Heritage Commerce by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 46,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. 75.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heritage Commerce

In related news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total value of $42,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 108,512 shares in the company, valued at $1,141,546.24. The trade was a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 254,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,473,628.71. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,747 shares of company stock worth $107,728 over the last quarter. 3.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Heritage Commerce Price Performance

HTBK opened at $9.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. Heritage Commerce Corp has a 52 week low of $7.66 and a 52 week high of $11.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $586.17 million, a PE ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is presently 78.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Heritage Commerce Profile

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.