Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) Share Price Passes Below 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX - Get Free Report) NYSE: ABX's stock price passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$25.20 and traded as low as C$23.41. Barrick Gold shares last traded at C$23.99, with a volume of 3,501,658 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. National Bankshares cut their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from C$26.00 to C$24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a C$34.00 price objective on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from C$33.50 to C$30.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Barrick Gold from C$33.50 to C$32.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Four investment 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$30.38.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 4.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$23.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$25.20.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX - Get Free Report) NYSE: ABX last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported C$0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of C$0.45 by C($0.03). Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 7.20%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Barrick Gold Co. will post 2.2422764 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold's payout ratio is 45.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis Mark Bristow acquired 85,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$25.03 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,135,291.53. Also, Senior Officer Poupak Bahamin sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$24.49, for a total transaction of C$61,215.00. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Corporation engages in the exploration, mine development, production, and sale of gold and copper properties in Canada and internationally. The company also explores and sells silver and energy materials. It has ownership interests in producing gold mines located in Argentina, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Mali, Tanzania, and the United States.