AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC decreased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 27.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,225,560 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 841,779 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $189,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $86.26 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12-month low of $43.44 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $97.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup raised 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, June 9th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.