A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) Sees Strong Trading Volume

A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRK) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 226,268 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the previous session’s volume of 278,608 shares.The stock last traded at $39.25 and had previously closed at $39.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMRK shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on A-Mark Precious Metals from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley cut their price objective on A-Mark Precious Metals from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded A-Mark Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

A-Mark Precious Metals Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.38. The company has a market cap of $909.20 million, a PE ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.33). A-Mark Precious Metals had a return on equity of 26.90% and a net margin of 1.10%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

A-Mark Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 15th. A-Mark Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.74%.

Insider Transactions at A-Mark Precious Metals

In other news, CEO Gregory N. Roberts sold 8,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total value of $220,008.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $713,510.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other A-Mark Precious Metals news, Director Michael R. Wittmeyer sold 22,558 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $593,049.82. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 408,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,732,235.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gregory N. Roberts sold 8,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total value of $220,008.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,202 shares in the company, valued at $713,510.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,637 shares of company stock valued at $1,396,360. 23.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A-Mark Precious Metals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals by 9.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,684,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,413,000 after purchasing an additional 150,343 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals by 2.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,383,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,803,000 after purchasing an additional 30,514 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,129,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,178,000 after purchasing an additional 106,842 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,032,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,296,000 after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals by 41.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 541,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,275,000 after purchasing an additional 157,750 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.25% of the company’s stock.

About A-Mark Precious Metals

A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals trading company. It operates through three segments: Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services, Direct-to-Consumer, and Secured Lending. The Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services segment sells gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in the form of bars, plates, powders, wafers, grains, ingots, and coins.