Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Barrick Gold accounts for about 1.5% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 4.42% of Barrick Gold worth $1,182,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,826 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.8% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 18,163 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 115,395 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $2,295,000 after buying an additional 6,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 95.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 321,166 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $6,387,000 after acquiring an additional 157,050 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 6.5 %

Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $18.18 on Thursday. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52-week low of $13.76 and a 52-week high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.65. The stock has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.17.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. Analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOLD. CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.83.

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.