American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stake in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,129,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,821 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.84% of Heritage Commerce worth $10,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Heritage Commerce during the third quarter valued at $116,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 496,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,902,000 after acquiring an additional 6,884 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 146,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 21,288 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 212.2% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 14,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 9,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Heritage Commerce by 103.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,987 shares in the last quarter. 75.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Heritage Commerce news, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,628.71. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.52, for a total value of $42,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 108,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders sold 10,747 shares of company stock valued at $107,728. 3.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Heritage Commerce Trading Up 0.2 %

HTBK stock opened at $9.48 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $582.48 million, a PE ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.92. 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 one year low of $7.66 and a one year high of $11.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.92.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 predict that Heritage Commerce Corp will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.49%. Heritage Commerce’s payout ratio is currently 78.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on HTBK. StockNews.com raised shares of Heritage Commerce from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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.

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.