Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 38,209 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 236,590 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 38,209 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $3,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,726,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 period. Ruffer LLP raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $159,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOLD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Barrick Gold from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Securities dropped their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.21.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:GOLD opened at $20.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold Corp has a twelve month low of $15.11 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company has a market cap of $35.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.90.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Barrick Gold

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.