Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 671,039 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,915 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $10,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 619.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Barrick Gold by 24.1% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD stock opened at $19.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.05. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52-week low of $0.25 and a 52-week high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer.  Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX.
 
In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick.