AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,794,119 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 1,053,813 shares during the quarter. AngloGold Ashanti comprises 1.3% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 3.72% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $1,602,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AU. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,380,472,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $426,477,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,186,463 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $357,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,236,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU opened at $86.26 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $43.44 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.19. The company has a market cap of $43.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 68.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AU. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

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.