Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stake in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,485,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 123,464 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Newmont were worth $55,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NEM. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Newmont by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Newmont during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in Newmont by 80.6% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Newmont during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Newmont by 185.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Newmont

In other news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,303,840. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of the 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 directly owns 52,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,082,800. This trade represents a 3.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,231 shares of company stock worth $1,388,758. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NEM shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Newmont from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. National Bank Financial upgraded Newmont to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Newmont from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Newmont from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.09.

Newmont Stock Performance

NYSE NEM opened at $44.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $49.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.33. Newmont Co. has a twelve month low of $36.60 and a twelve month high of $58.72.

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

Newmont Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.13%.

Newmont Profile

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.