Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Stake Cut by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 100,444 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 16,325 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 619.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 2,646 shares during the period. BNP Paribas grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 3,066 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 196.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Barrick Gold by 24.1% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:GOLD opened at $19.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1 year low of $0.25 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.05.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.