Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Sold by Essex Investment Management Co. LLC

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lowered its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 28,267 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 721 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Barrick Gold by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 184,897 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $3,678,000 after purchasing an additional 55,051 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the third quarter worth approximately $337,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $9,630,000 after buying an additional 80,366 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 28,777 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,475 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GOLD opened at $18.61 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.12. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $15.11 and a 52 week high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOLD. Scotiabank increased their price target on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

About Barrick Gold

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.