Trexquant Investment LP Purchases 714,497 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) by 142.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,215,136 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock after buying an additional 714,497 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $18,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $996,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,999 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $169,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,603,744 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,726,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in 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 worth $1,182,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP grew its position in Barrick Gold by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 10,269,848 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $159,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,119 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD stock opened at $19.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.02. Barrick Gold Corp has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89.

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America cut Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. National Bank Financial raised Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Company 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.