Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Lowers Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 37.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 665,023 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 401,458 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $10,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,973 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,051 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Barrick Gold by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 22,025 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,510 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOLD shares. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of GOLD opened at $19.41 on Thursday. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $15.11 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 50-day moving average price is $18.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 anticipate 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 program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

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.