Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,920,684 shares of the mining company's stock after buying an additional 80,563 shares during the period. AngloGold Ashanti accounts for approximately 0.7% of Van ECK Associates Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 5.46% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $610,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 32.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 338.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter valued at about $118,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Investec raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a "sector underperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.67.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.29. 1,855,241 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,594,117. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52 week low of $15.60 and a 52 week high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.