B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 158,918,109 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,161,024 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 12.06% of B2Gold worth $387,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E&G Advisors LP purchased a new position in B2Gold in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in B2Gold during the third quarter worth $33,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in B2Gold during the third quarter worth $35,000. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of B2Gold in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in shares of B2Gold by 35.0% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BTG. StockNews.com cut B2Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America cut B2Gold from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. CIBC dropped their price objective on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of B2Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.02.

B2Gold Trading Down 1.9 %

BTG stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2.54. The stock had a trading volume of 25,145,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,472,540. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.08. B2Gold Corp. has a 12-month low of $2.20 and a 12-month high of $3.50. The company's 50-day moving average price is $2.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.82.

About B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer company. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia; 24% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp.