Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stock Position in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 41.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,558,410 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after buying an additional 1,329,214 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.26% of Barrick Gold worth $70,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the fourth 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% in 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 stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $223,665,000 after buying an additional 236,116 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOLD shares. StockNews.com upgraded Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE GOLD traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.93. The company had a trading volume of 5,749,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,009,734. The company's fifty day moving average is $18.96 and its 200-day moving average is $17.90. The company has a market cap of $32.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. 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 $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Barrick Gold

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.