Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its stock holdings in New Mountain Finance Corporation by 63.4%, now owning only 23,801 shares, valued at approximately $263,000.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 32.08% of New Mountain Finance's stock, with notable increases from firms like BNP Paribas, which raised its holdings by 240.4%.
• New Mountain Finance recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing an impressive 13.2% yield for investors.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its position in shares of New Mountain Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:NMFC - Free Report) by 63.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,801 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,280 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s holdings in New Mountain Finance were worth $263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NMFC. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 240.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 5,288 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in New Mountain Finance by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of New Mountain Finance by 179.7% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 40,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 25,886 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of New Mountain Finance during the fourth quarter worth $2,359,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in New Mountain Finance by 0.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 260,572 shares of the company's stock worth $2,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 32.08% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven B. Klinsky purchased 106,691 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.78 per share, for a total transaction of $1,043,437.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,370,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,746,981.46. The trade was a 2.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Adam B. Weinstein acquired 49,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.03 per share, with a total value of $498,992.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 652,490 shares in the company, valued at $6,544,474.70. The trade was a 8.25% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 157,191 shares of company stock valued at $1,550,035. Insiders own 11.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NMFC. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down from $11.75) on shares of New Mountain Finance in a report on Monday, September 15th. Oppenheimer set a $11.00 target price on shares of New Mountain Finance and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $10.60.

New Mountain Finance Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ NMFC opened at $9.72 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $10.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. New Mountain Finance Corporation has a 52 week low of $8.84 and a 52 week high of $12.09.

New Mountain Finance (NASDAQ:NMFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $83.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $84.57 million. New Mountain Finance had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 23.27%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New Mountain Finance Corporation will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

New Mountain Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.2%. New Mountain Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 168.42%.

About New Mountain Finance

New Mountain Finance Corporation Nasdaq: NMFC, a business development company is a private equity / buyouts and loan fund specializes in directly investing and lending to middle market companies in defensive growth industries. The fund prefers investing in buyout and middle market companies. It also makes investments in debt securities at all levels of the capital structure including first and second lien debt, unsecured notes, and mezzanine securities.

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