Moran Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,620 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,052 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $3,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOLD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 33.3% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 2,854,055 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,182,641,000 after buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,458,084 shares during the period. Finally, Ruffer LLP increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $159,180,000 after buying an additional 1,325,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE GOLD opened at $18.17 on Tuesday. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.11. 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 has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS 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, equities analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in 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 generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities dropped 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Five 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, Barrick Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.