New York State Common Retirement Fund Purchases 115,886 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 36.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 431,857 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115,886 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.10% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $30,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 7,649,800.0% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 76,499 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,930,000 after purchasing an additional 76,498 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 330.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 964 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,443 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,844,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at about $16,573,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 13.3%

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $92.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.30. The stock has a market cap of $38.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.58. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52-week low of $28.44 and a 52-week high of $115.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%.The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 80.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $92.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

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.