A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Shares of A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRK) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 237,729 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 224,700 shares.The stock last traded at $27.75 and had previously closed at $28.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMRK. StockNews.com upgraded shares of A-Mark Precious Metals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on A-Mark Precious Metals from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Northland Securities dropped their price objective on A-Mark Precious Metals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.75.

A-Mark Precious Metals Stock Up 5.5 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $692.02 million, a P/E ratio of 12.69 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.66.

A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.10). A-Mark Precious Metals had a return on equity of 10.93% and a net margin of 0.57%. As a group, research analysts expect that A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A-Mark Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. A-Mark Precious Metals’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

Institutional Trading of A-Mark Precious Metals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in A-Mark Precious Metals by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 431,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,072,000 after acquiring an additional 22,087 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals by 349.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 22,181 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 368,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,094,000 after purchasing an additional 102,524 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in A-Mark Precious Metals by 385.1% during the third quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 44,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 35,545 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals by 1,714.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,209,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,425,000 after buying an additional 1,143,125 shares during the last quarter. 75.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.