AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Short Interest Update

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,550,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the December 31st total of 5,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company's stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,448,445 shares of the mining company's stock worth $277,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,304 shares during the period. TT International Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% in the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company's stock worth $75,525,000 after purchasing an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at $45,043,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,934,603 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $44,651,000 after purchasing an additional 542,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Investec raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised AngloGold Ashanti from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.75.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE:AU traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,753,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,385,295. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.31. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52 week low of $16.49 and a 52 week high of $32.57.

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.