UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Grows Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,438,944 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after buying an additional 390,531 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.08% of Barrick Gold worth $22,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 worth $996,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 19,189,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $223,665,000 after acquiring an additional 236,116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.82% of the company's stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of B stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.20. 16,844,190 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,803,623. The stock has a market cap of $33.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. Barrick Gold Corp has a 12 month low of $17.41 and a 12 month high of $47.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $19.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Barrick Gold's payout ratio is 30.08%.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on B. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set a "sell" rating for the company. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.05.

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.