Marshall Wace LLP Sells 788,504 Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its stake in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 98.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,300 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after selling 788,504 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 619.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 196.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 119.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,848 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company's stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of GOLD stock traded down $0.58 on Friday, hitting $18.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,204,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,643,839. Barrick Gold Corp has a fifty-two week low of $15.11 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $19.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. Barrick Gold's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOLD shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. National Bank Financial raised shares of Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Canada upgraded Barrick Gold to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Seven research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.