Great Diamond Partners LLC Has $3.43 Million Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Great Diamond Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 118.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,170 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,745 shares during the quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $3,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AU. Zacks Research downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 4.1%

AU stock opened at $92.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $46.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.59. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $42.17 and a 52 week high of $129.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 37.17% and a net margin of 31.11%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 101.47%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by?products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.