Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Position Increased by Holowesko Partners Ltd.

Holowesko Partners Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 121.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,319,200 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 723,200 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold accounts for approximately 9.4% of Holowesko Partners Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Holowesko Partners Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Barrick Gold worth $20,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $33,726,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,563,361 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,088,484,000 after buying an additional 1,458,084 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $159,180,000 after buying an additional 1,325,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,060,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,585 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on GOLD shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Six investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE GOLD opened at $19.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.85 and its 200 day moving average is $18.04. Barrick Gold Corp has a twelve month low of $15.11 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 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 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

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.