Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Stock Holdings Increased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,933,517 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after buying an additional 7,150,142 shares during the period. Barrick Gold makes up approximately 2.7% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 4.61% of Barrick Gold worth $1,464,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,919 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the third quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 13.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,067 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:GOLD traded up $0.23 on Monday, reaching $17.32. The stock had a trading volume of 19,018,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,023,055. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12-month low of $13.76 and a 12-month high of $20.75. The stock has a market cap of $30.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.14 and a 200 day moving average of $16.32.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 11.16%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.074 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOLD shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Barrick Gold in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial reaffirmed a “sector perform overweight” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.06.

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.