Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,368 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,957,304 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $586,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491,130 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $45,043,000. TT International Asset Management LTD increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during 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 buying an additional 962,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 159.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,251,492 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $33,327,000 after buying an additional 768,363 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AU traded up $1.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $35.93. 550,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,321,706. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $30.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52 week low of $21.23 and a 52 week high of $36.69.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.75 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

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.