Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 198,001 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,069,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,204,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter worth approximately $121,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 125,425 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55,375 shares during the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,372,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 25,005 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 7,849 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GOLD traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.32. 14,948,071 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,549,401. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $0.25 and a one year high of $21.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.03. The company has a market cap of $33.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

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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 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. On average, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. National Bank Financial raised Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.75.

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.