Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,516 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 2,562 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 161.0% in the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 486,922 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $7,547,000 after acquiring an additional 300,336 shares during the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 36,221 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 5,521 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 66,222 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,765 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $101,000. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 6.5 %

GOLD stock opened at $18.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.17. 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 current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

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 5.82% and a net margin of 13.19%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 EPS 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 43.01%.

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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOLD. TD Securities cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. Raymond James decreased their price target on 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, Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.83.

Barrick Gold 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.