Gold.com (NYSE:GOLD) Trading Down 6.5% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Gold.com shares fell 6.5% to about $46.12 after COO Brian Aquilino and EVP Carol Meltzer sold a combined 10,667 shares, significantly reducing their individual holdings.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $58, though recent targets ranged from $55 to $65 and some analysts downgraded their ratings.
• The company missed quarterly expectations, reporting $0.41 in EPS versus the $0.96 consensus and revenue of $5.01 billion versus estimates of $5.67 billion; it also announced a special $0.20-per-share dividend.

Gold.com Inc. (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 6.5% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $46.10 and last traded at $46.1160. 130,790 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 614,417 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.33.

Specifically, COO Brian Aquilino sold 6,667 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.02, for a total value of $313,482.34. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,482.34. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carol Meltzer sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total transaction of $187,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,500 shares in the company, valued at $70,290. This represents a 72.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Gold.com in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Gold.com from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Northland Securities set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gold.com in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Gold.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Gold.com in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gold.com has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Gold.com Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Gold.com (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.55). Gold.com had a net margin of 0.32% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gold.com Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Gold.com Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. Gold.com's payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gold.com

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Gold.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,408,000. Jacobs Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gold.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,215,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Gold.com in the fourth quarter valued at $3,078,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Gold.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,083,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gold.com in the first quarter worth $2,618,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company's stock.

Gold.com Company Profile

Gold.com, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals 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. This segment also offers complementary services, such as receiving, handling, inventorying, processing, packing, and shipping of precious metals and custom coins on a secure basis; and designs and produces minted silver products.

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