Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Holdings in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,120 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Newmont were worth $2,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Newmont by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,747,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,851,606,000 after buying an additional 797,445 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Newmont by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,484,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,253,457,000 after purchasing an additional 326,243 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Newmont by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,302,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $481,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,708 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP increased its position in Newmont by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 7,085,101 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $263,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,870 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Newmont by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,052,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $376,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,697 shares during the period. 68.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NEM shares. CLSA started coverage on shares of Newmont in a research report on Friday, November 29th. They issued an “underperform” rating 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 price objective on the stock. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Newmont from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Newmont from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Newmont from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.16.

Insider Transactions at Newmont

In other news, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,082,800. The trade was a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Natascha Viljoen sold 9,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 145,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,838,680. This represents a 5.81 % 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Newmont Stock Performance

NEM stock opened at $47.75 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.67. The company has a market capitalization of $53.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.54. Newmont Co. has a 1-year low of $33.77 and a 1-year high of $58.72.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.29. Newmont had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $5.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. As a group, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Newmont’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.