Paulson & CO. Inc. Sells 1,000,000 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Paulson & CO. Inc. cut its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 34.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,932,905 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 1,000,000 shares during the quarter. AngloGold Ashanti makes up approximately 3.6% of Paulson & CO. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Paulson & CO. Inc. owned about 0.46% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $48,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 36.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 108.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the mining company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 338.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the mining company's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,215 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AU. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank restated a "sector underperform" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.66. 2,316,951 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,930,399. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $28.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.70. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19.

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.