Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 1,563,361 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Barrick Gold accounts for approximately 1.5% of Van ECK Associates Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 4.42% of Barrick Gold worth $1,182,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the third quarter worth about $32,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 451.7% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, BNP Paribas lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company's stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.96. 29,052,684 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,482,404. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.17. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $14.25 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The company has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last released 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 5.82% and a net margin of 13.19%. On average, analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Barrick Gold's payout ratio is 43.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group cut Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.67.

Barrick Gold 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.