Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) Shares Down 4.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Hamilton Lane Inc. (NASDAQ:HLNE) dropped 4.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Oppenheimer lowered their price target on the stock from $176.00 to $174.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Hamilton Lane traded as low as $82.52 and last traded at $81.8110. 43,053 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 830,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.85.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HLNE. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Hamilton Lane from $148.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Hamilton Lane from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Hamilton Lane from $166.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Hamilton Lane from $159.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hamilton Lane in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.29.

Insider Activity at Hamilton Lane

In other news, Chairman Hartley R. Rogers acquired 38,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $78.49 per share, with a total value of $3,005,382.10. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 93,756 shares in the company, valued at $7,358,908.44. The trade was a 69.03% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Andrea Anigati Kramer bought 1,283 shares of Hamilton Lane stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.46 per share, for a total transaction of $99,381.18. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 87,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,766,131. This trade represents a 1.49% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 95,039 shares of company stock worth $8,100,739. Insiders own 22.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hamilton Lane

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Hamilton Lane by 15.8% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,751,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,109,000 after purchasing an additional 239,397 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Hamilton Lane by 7.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,534,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,880,000 after buying an additional 104,977 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hamilton Lane by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,293,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,458,000 after buying an additional 18,296 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hamilton Lane by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,103,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,725,000 after buying an additional 18,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hamilton Lane by 418.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,060,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,946,000 after buying an additional 856,112 shares during the period. 97.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hamilton Lane Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $82.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.16.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. Hamilton Lane had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 25.98%. The company had revenue of $193.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.05 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Hamilton Lane’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Hamilton Lane Inc. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hamilton Lane Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from Hamilton Lane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 18th. Hamilton Lane’s payout ratio is 40.61%.

Hamilton Lane declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Hamilton Lane

Hamilton Lane is a global private markets investment management firm specializing in the full spectrum of private equity and credit strategies. The company partners with institutional investors and wealth managers to design, implement and manage customized portfolios in primary fund investing, secondary market transactions and direct co-investment opportunities. By combining investment selection, portfolio construction and ongoing monitoring, Hamilton Lane seeks to optimize risk-adjusted returns across diverse private markets exposures.

Founded in 1991, Hamilton Lane has developed a track record of investment and advisory services in private markets.