Atria Investments Inc Sells 2,549 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Atria Investments Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,802 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 2,549 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,458,084 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $227,524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854,055 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,047,255 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $162,140,000 after acquiring an additional 696,556 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.07. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $0.25 and a one year high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOLD shares. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upgraded Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Cibc World Mkts lowered Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, CIBC downgraded Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.