Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 2,558,707 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lowered its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,620,159 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 2,558,707 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold accounts for about 0.6% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 2.58% of Barrick Gold worth $691,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Barrick Gold by 120.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 93,622 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,117 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $477,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 74,903 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 9,511 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 18,793 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Barrick Gold in the third quarter valued at about $287,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOLD shares. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Six 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of GOLD stock opened at $19.11 on Friday. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52-week low of $15.11 and a 52-week high of $21.35. The stock has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.04.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current 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 reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

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.