Sigma Planning Corp Sells 1,975 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,560 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 1,975 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $9,630,000 after buying an additional 80,366 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 2,317,580 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $46,097,000 after buying an additional 413,012 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,711,000. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 330.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 99,240 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,974,000 after buying an additional 76,186 shares during the period. Finally, Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH boosted its holdings 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 period. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on GOLD shares. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Barrick Gold stock opened at $17.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold Corp has a fifty-two week low of $14.56 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.