Virtu Financial LLC Invests $3.07 Million in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 198,001 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,069,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,088,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,084 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $223,665,000 after purchasing an additional 236,116 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Barrick Gold by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $227,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP grew its position in Barrick Gold by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $159,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325,119 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GOLD shares. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $18.86 on Friday. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12 month low of $0.25 and a 12 month high of $21.35. The stock has a market cap of $32.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $17.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.