Traders Buy Large Volume of Barrick Gold Call Options (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 83,644 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 80% compared to the average daily volume of 46,363 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in Barrick Gold by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,826 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.8% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 18,163 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 198.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 115,395 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 6,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 321,166 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $6,387,000 after purchasing an additional 157,050 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold has a twelve month low of $13.76 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The stock has a market cap of $31.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.82% and a net margin of 13.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.01%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank cut shares of Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities dropped 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. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.67.

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.