Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 83.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,660 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 18,390 shares during the quarter. Barrick Gold accounts for 0.8% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $56,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOLD. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $227,524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854,055 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 54,712,508 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,088,484,000 after buying an additional 1,458,084 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $159,180,000 after buying an additional 1,325,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,060,036,000 after buying an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $19.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $33.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.03. 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 52-week low of $0.25 and a 52-week high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced 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 return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.