Simplicity Solutions LLC Purchases 2,551 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,876 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 35.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 63,551,991 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $925,121,000 after buying an additional 16,485,756 shares during the period. Snider Financial Group acquired a new position in Barrick Gold in the 1st quarter valued at $185,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 42,464,736 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $788,570,000 after acquiring an additional 5,188,456 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 43,399,480 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $631,228,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the first quarter worth $53,227,000. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GOLD opened at $17.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.16. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $13.76 and a 52 week high of $20.75. The firm has a market cap of $30.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.91 and its 200-day moving average is $16.23.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 11.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.074 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their target price on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.48.

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.