Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 88.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,414 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 283,752 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 198.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 451.7% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares during the period. BNP Paribas increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of GOLD stock opened at $18.77 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.17. 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 1-year low of $14.27 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The firm has a market cap of $32.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOLD has been the topic of several research reports. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. CIBC cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Company 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.