Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 2,624,314 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 71.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,035,495 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after selling 2,624,314 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Barrick Gold worth $16,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,713 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Miller Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth about $159,000. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth about $164,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 214,620 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $3,327,000 after purchasing an additional 4,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 80.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 905,142 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $14,028,000 after purchasing an additional 404,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOLD shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

GOLD opened at $18.38 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.10. The company has a market capitalization of $31.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1 year low of $15.11 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.