1,534,687 Shares in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B - Free Report) TSE: ABX in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,534,687 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock, valued at approximately $23,788,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.09% of Barrick Gold at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of B. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 619.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 90.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Barrick Gold from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:B traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $19.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,025,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,710,512. 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 one year low of $17.41 and a one year high of $47.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Barrick Gold's payout ratio is presently 30.08%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership 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.