Virtu Financial LLC Purchases 54,081 Shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 233.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,081 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Newmont were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Newmont by 191.8% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Newmont in the third quarter worth $28,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in shares of Newmont by 80.6% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Newmont by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Newmont in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 68.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NEM. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Newmont from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Newmont from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. CLSA began coverage on Newmont in a research report on Friday, November 29th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Newmont from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.16.

Newmont Stock Performance

Newmont stock opened at $47.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.58. Newmont Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.86 and a fifty-two week high of $58.72. The stock has a market cap of $53.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.29. Newmont had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $5.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Newmont Co. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Newmont Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Newmont’s payout ratio is currently 34.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,303,840. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $360,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 145,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,838,680. This trade represents a 5.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,231 shares of company stock worth $1,388,758 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Newmont

Newmont Corporation engages in the production and exploration of gold. It also explores for copper, silver, zinc, and lead. The company has operations and/or assets in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Peru, Suriname, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Fiji, and Ghana.