Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Sold by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. decreased its stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,444 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 16,325 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 19.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $9,630,000 after buying an additional 80,366 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,073,717 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $78,637,000 after purchasing an additional 128,203 shares during the last quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH now owns 1,460,000 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $22,630,000 after purchasing an additional 720,000 shares during the last quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC now owns 604,199 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $12,018,000 after purchasing an additional 161,688 shares during the period. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $700,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 2.2 %

Barrick Gold stock opened at $19.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1 year low of $0.25 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89.

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

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOLD shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James cut their target price 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.