Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 88.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,414 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after selling 283,752 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 198.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Barrick Gold in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 451.7% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,563 shares during the period. BNP Paribas lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 221.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company's stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE GOLD traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.46. 14,719,706 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,343,402. The company has a market cap of $31.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $14.27 and a one year high of $21.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.18. 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 (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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. On average, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

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

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities reduced their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC downgraded Barrick Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group downgraded Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.75.

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.