Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Bought by Mufg Securities Canada LTD.

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 71.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,669,327 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,113,748 shares during the period. Barrick Gold comprises approximately 1.5% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned approximately 0.15% of Barrick Gold worth $41,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 2.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,896 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,945,514 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $98,469,000 after buying an additional 244,057 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Barrick Gold by 22.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 21,699 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,917 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 120.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 93,622 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOLD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $19.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.03. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12-month low of $0.25 and a 12-month high of $21.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

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.