Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Cuts Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 42.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the third quarter worth $337,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $9,630,000 after acquiring an additional 80,366 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GOLD opened at $18.61 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.12.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Sell-side analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.15%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reduced 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given 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 target price of $23.75.

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.