DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Decreases Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lowered its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 61.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 458,481 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 725,363 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $7,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 619.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 196.9% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOLD has been the subject of a number of research reports. National Bank Financial raised Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America lowered 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 research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of GOLD stock opened at $18.83 on Friday. 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 Corp has a 12-month low of $15.11 and a 12-month high of $21.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.83. The company has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.