Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) Shares Bought by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 276.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 439,815 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after buying an additional 322,915 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $6,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 13,829 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,712 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Barrick Gold by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 231,375 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $3,586,000 after buying an additional 46,478 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Barrick Gold by 154.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,645 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 5,246 shares during the period. Finally, Hedges Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 48,300 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. 90.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of B stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.90. 5,390,223 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,576,832. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.73. The firm has a market cap of $32.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. 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 Corp has a 1-year low of $17.41 and a 1-year high of $47.50.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Barrick Gold's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on B. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. TD Securities lowered their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.05.

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.