Horizon Technology Finance Co. (NASDAQ:HRZN) Short Interest Down 12.0% in March

Horizon Technology Finance Co. (NASDAQ:HRZN) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 560,000 shares, a decrease of 12.0% from the March 15th total of 636,400 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 283,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Horizon Technology Finance Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ HRZN opened at $11.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $378.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.92 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.01 and a 200-day moving average of $12.35. Horizon Technology Finance has a 1-year low of $10.75 and a 1-year high of $13.73.

Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The investment management company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $28.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.21 million. Horizon Technology Finance had a positive return on equity of 18.24% and a negative net margin of 15.14%. On average, analysts forecast that Horizon Technology Finance will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Horizon Technology Finance Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is a positive change from Horizon Technology Finance’s previous dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 16.48%. Horizon Technology Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -269.38%.

Insider Transactions at Horizon Technology Finance

In other Horizon Technology Finance news, President Gerald A. Michaud bought 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.77 per share, with a total value of $42,960.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 156,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,838,991.88. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Horizon Technology Finance

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Horizon Technology Finance in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Horizon Technology Finance by 25,158.3% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,031 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Horizon Technology Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Horizon Technology Finance by 86.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,969 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Horizon Technology Finance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HRZN. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Horizon Technology Finance from $11.50 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Horizon Technology Finance from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Horizon Technology Finance in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Horizon Technology Finance from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.38.

Horizon Technology Finance Company Profile

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company specializing in lending and and investing in development-stage investments. It focuses on making secured debt and venture lending investments to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, cleantech and sustainability industries.