Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Sells 606,628 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 71.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,623 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 606,628 shares during the period. Barrick Gold comprises 1.2% of Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $3,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,088,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,084 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $227,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,904,934 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 9.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,047,255 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $162,140,000 after buying an additional 696,556 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 2.2 %

GOLD opened at $18.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.55. 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 fifty-two week low of $14.27 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $16.29 and its 200 day moving average is $18.17.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOLD shares. 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 research note on Friday, February 7th. CIBC lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

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.