Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B)

Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B - Free Report) TSE: ABX by 9,389.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,776,645 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,747,386 shares during the quarter. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of Barrick Gold worth $43,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Barrick Gold by 2.1% in 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $1,060,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Barrick Gold by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $996,802,000 after acquiring an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $516,055,000 after acquiring an additional 19,189,830 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Barrick Gold by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,120,278 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $223,665,000 after acquiring an additional 236,116 shares during the period. 90.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Barrick Gold stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.85. 16,134,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,183,937. The company's fifty day moving average is $19.04 and its 200-day moving average is $17.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market cap of $30.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. Barrick Gold Corp has a 52 week low of $17.44 and a 52 week high of $47.50.

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 net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. Barrick Gold's revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.08%.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized 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 reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

B has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.05.

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.