Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after purchasing an additional 80,366 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $9,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 198.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 628.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 3.1 %

Barrick Gold stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.73. The company had a trading volume of 29,216,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,501,684. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $19.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.50. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12 month low of $13.76 and a 12 month high of $21.35. The company has a market capitalization of $30.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.56.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOLD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $26.50 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Barrick Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.90.

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.