Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 21,747 Shares of Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) by 144.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,747 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Prospect Capital were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 7.4% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 34.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 3,686 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 18.0% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 25,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its stake in Prospect Capital by 14.5% in the third quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 50,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Prospect Capital by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 7,327 shares in the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prospect Capital

In related news, CEO John F. Barry purchased 2,000,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.29 per share, for a total transaction of $8,580,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 79,477,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,958,685.21. This represents a 2.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO M Grier Eliasek purchased 210,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.81 per share, with a total value of $1,010,100.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,131,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,250,735.30. This trade represents a 10.93 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 2,215,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,700. Corporate insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PSEC opened at $4.44 on Friday. Prospect Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $4.09 and a 52 week high of $5.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of -22.20 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.77.

Prospect Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is presently -270.00%.

Prospect Capital Company Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in middle market, mature, mezzanine finance, later stage, emerging growth, leveraged buyouts, refinancing, acquisitions, recapitalizations, turnaround, growth capital, development, capital expenditures and subordinated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations, cash flow term loans, market place lending and bridge transactions.