Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,713 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $199,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904,934 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 33.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $227,524,000 after buying an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,088,484,000 after buying an additional 1,458,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $159,180,000 after buying an additional 1,325,119 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 0.4 %

Barrick Gold stock opened at $19.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $0.25 and a 52 week high of $21.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOLD shares. Bank of America cut Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Securities decreased their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Cibc World Mkts lowered Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.