Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Has $4.98 Million Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,221 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after buying an additional 138,351 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $4,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $516,055,000 after purchasing an additional 19,189,830 shares in the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $172,225,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,815,946 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $105,692,000 after buying an additional 4,791,663 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $57,991,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOLD shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 5th. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GOLD traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $18.93. The company had a trading volume of 4,608,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,517,840. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $32.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $15.11 and a 1-year high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid 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 2.11%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.