Sei Investments Co. Sells 36,184 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Sei Investments Co. lessened its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 609,387 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 36,184 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $59,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,777,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $1,139,000. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $6,523,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 606.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,054 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $918,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 122,885 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $10,556,000 after purchasing an additional 14,673 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $79.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.65. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a twelve month low of $45.36 and a twelve month high of $129.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $85.50 and its 200 day moving average is $96.57. 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 released 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 firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AU shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Roth Capital cut their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Freedom Capital upgraded AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.