Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY)

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 5,724 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average daily volume of 3,448 call options.

Institutional Trading of Harmony Gold Mining

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Harmony Gold Mining by 12,337.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,795,844 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $66,998,000 after purchasing an additional 4,757,285 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Harmony Gold Mining by 215.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,571,374 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $82,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,806,468 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining by 286.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,961,141 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $54,248,000 after buying an additional 2,936,552 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Harmony Gold Mining by 7,504.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,306,431 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $41,862,000 after buying an additional 2,276,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its stake in Harmony Gold Mining by 1,801.7% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,985,093 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,732,000 after buying an additional 1,880,708 shares during the last quarter. 31.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Harmony Gold Mining Price Performance

NYSE HMY traded down $0.50 on Friday, reaching $21.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,813,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,374,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.72. Harmony Gold Mining has a fifty-two week low of $9.58 and a fifty-two week high of $22.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on HMY. Investec upgraded Harmony Gold Mining to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. HSBC raised shares of Harmony Gold Mining from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Harmony Gold Mining from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Harmony Gold Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Harmony Gold Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.00.

Harmony Gold Mining Company Profile

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited is a South Africa–based precious metals producer primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of gold. The company operates a portfolio of underground and surface mining operations, targeting both reef-hosted and alluvial deposits. In addition to gold, Harmony’s activities encompass the extraction of copper as a byproduct at its Papua New Guinea operations.

In South Africa, Harmony’s mining footprint includes deep-level underground operations in the Witwatersrand Basin, where it employs a combination of conventional and mechanized mining methods.