Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 26,959 Shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,327,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 26,959 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Newmont worth $49,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NEM. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 23.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 129,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,915,000 after acquiring an additional 24,536 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 8.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 512,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,409,000 after acquiring an additional 39,045 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 3.0% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 15,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 35.4% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 3.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 23,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on NEM. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Newmont in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.20 price objective for the company. Bernstein Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Newmont from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Newmont from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Newmont from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, CIBC cut shares of Newmont from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.37.

Newmont Price Performance

Shares of NEM stock opened at $48.10 on Friday. Newmont Co. has a 12-month low of $29.42 and a 12-month high of $58.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.46 and a 200-day moving average of $46.47.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) last announced its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 7.03% and a positive return on equity of 9.80%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Newmont Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Peter Toth sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 82,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,303,840. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce R. Brook sold 2,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 52,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,082,800. The trade was a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,166,843. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.