Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases 7,849 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Magnetar Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 45.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,005 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,849 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 465,126 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $7,209,000 after purchasing an additional 20,912 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,348,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 134,356 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 350,322 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $5,430,000 after purchasing an additional 11,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 41,340 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $18.86 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $17.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $0.25 and a 1-year high of $21.35.

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

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has approved 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 repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOLD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. CIBC lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

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.