AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 473,773 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 148,300 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $40,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter valued at about $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,543 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,200,000 after buying an additional 64,066 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,740,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $91.99 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a twelve month low of $39.51 and a twelve month high of $129.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.35 and a 200-day moving average of $95.07. The firm has a market cap of $46.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 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 37.17%. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 101.47%.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

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.