Banc Funds Co. LLC Trims Stock Position in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK)

Banc Funds Co. LLC trimmed its stake in Heritage Commerce Corp (NASDAQ:HTBK) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 174,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 98,300 shares during the period. Banc Funds Co. LLC’s holdings in Heritage Commerce were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Heritage Commerce by 64.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Heritage Commerce by 103.7% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Heritage Commerce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Heritage Commerce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Heritage Commerce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $129,000. 75.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HTBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Heritage Commerce from $12.50 to $11.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens raised shares of Heritage Commerce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Heritage Commerce Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of HTBK stock opened at $8.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $530.47 million, a P/E ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.80. Heritage Commerce Corp has a twelve month low of $7.66 and a twelve month high of $11.27.

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

Heritage Commerce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Heritage Commerce news, Director Jack W. Conner sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 108,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,546.24. This trade represents a 3.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robertson Clay Jones, Jr. sold 5,145 shares of Heritage Commerce 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,747 shares of company stock valued at $107,728 in the last three months. 3.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.