HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 669,578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,504 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Newmont were worth $24,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Newmont by 29.4% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Newmont by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 11,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Newmont by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Newmont by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 8,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of Newmont by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Newmont in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.20 target price on the stock. CLSA started coverage on Newmont in a research report on Friday, November 29th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Newmont from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Newmont from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Newmont currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.16.

Insider Activity

In other Newmont news, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of the company’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 $83,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 52,070 shares in the company, valued at $2,082,800. This represents a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 82,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,303,840. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,231 shares of company stock worth $1,388,758. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Newmont Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Newmont stock opened at $46.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Newmont Co. has a 1-year low of $33.29 and a 1-year high of $58.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.20 and a 200-day moving average of $45.81. The company has a market capitalization of $52.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Newmont’s payout ratio is currently 34.13%.

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.