Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Sells 606,628 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 71.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 241,623 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after selling 606,628 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold comprises 1.2% of Financial Sense Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Financial Sense Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $3,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 80,366 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its position 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 worth $46,097,000 after acquiring an additional 413,012 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the third quarter worth approximately $3,711,000. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its position 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 worth $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 76,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH grew its position in Barrick Gold by 97.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 720,000 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOLD shares. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. CIBC cut shares of Barrick Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Barrick Gold stock traded down $0.49 on Friday, hitting $18.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,938,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,505,674. The firm has a market cap of $31.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.18. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $14.27 and a one year high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Company 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.