4,950,857 Shares in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 4,950,857 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,477,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 25,434 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,684,560 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $419,256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,822 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Valued Retirements Inc. bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $277,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $166,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 5.1%

Shares of AU stock opened at $91.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.60. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12-month low of $43.44 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $97.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.95.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 37.17% and a net margin of 31.11%. Equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 68.04%.

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.