The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, March 25, edition that Barrick Gold executive board chairman John Thornton has been a regular buyer of company shares. The Globe's Ted Dixon writes in the Who's Buying and Selling column that Barrick Gold shares shed 12 cents to finish Friday in Toronto at $25.72 (all figures Canadian unless otherwise stated). The stock is up 20 per cent year to date. Barrick Gold is a top-performing member of the INK Canadian Insider Index. Barrick made it into the Index thanks to persistent buying by Mr. Thornton. Over the past two years, Mr. Thornton has bought 1,389,274 shares at an average price of $16.28. That includes the buying he did on March 16 when he reached into his own pocket and bought $5.3-million worth of stock in the public market. Earlier in the month, Barrick's chief investment officer spent $232,355 buying shares. The Globe reported on March 17 that RBC Dominion Securities analysts Stephen Walker and Melissa Oliphant had upgraded Barrick to "outperform" from "sector perform." In the item, the analysts boosted their share target to $23 (U.S.) from $19 (U.S.). The shares could then be had for $25.21.