Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,857,324 shares of the mining company's stock after buying an additional 3,882,283 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.97% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $467,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AU. StockNews.com raised AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.25.

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AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 9.3 %

NYSE AU traded down $3.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.55. 4,230,630 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,405,522. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52 week low of $21.65 and a 52 week high of $38.63. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $32.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.47. The company has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti's payout ratio is 43.13%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.