Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $1.75 Million Stock Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,778 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after selling 36,527 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 19.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $9,630,000 after purchasing an additional 80,366 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 21.7% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 2,317,580 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $46,097,000 after buying an additional 413,012 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the third quarter valued at $3,711,000. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 330.5% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 99,240 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 76,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH now owns 1,460,000 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $22,630,000 after buying an additional 720,000 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank cut Barrick Gold from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities dropped their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. 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. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.67.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Barrick Gold stock traded down $0.49 on Monday, hitting $17.96. 29,052,684 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,482,404. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.17. 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 Corp has a 12-month low of $14.25 and a 12-month high of $21.35. The company has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. Sell-side analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

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

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.