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

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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 period. Barrick Gold comprises 0.6% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 2.58% of Barrick Gold worth $691,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allianz SE acquired a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,726,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,458,084 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,325,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOLD shares. TD Securities cut 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. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank raised 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. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 1.3 %

GOLD stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $19.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,372,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,757,111. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $18.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. 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 $33.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to reacquire 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.

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.