Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 198,001 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,069,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,458,084 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $223,665,000 after purchasing an additional 236,116 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings 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 valued at $227,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,325,119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:GOLD opened at $18.86 on Friday. Barrick Gold Corp has a twelve month low of $0.25 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company has a market cap of $32.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.05. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOLD. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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, February 18th. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.