Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after buying an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 3.96% of Barrick Gold worth $1,060,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 619.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 119.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,848 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 85.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOLD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upgraded Barrick Gold from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Canada upgraded Barrick Gold to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:GOLD traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $19.46. 17,360,442 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,961,285. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $15.11 and a 52 week high of $21.35. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $33.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.02.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.