TD Asset Management Inc Sells 22,965 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

TD Asset Management Inc lowered its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,218 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 22,965 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $12,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,979,174,000 after purchasing an additional 252,307 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,395,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,620 shares during the period. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth $1,380,472,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 14.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,705,516 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $401,269,000 after purchasing an additional 738,343 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $361,310,000 after purchasing an additional 284,017 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $84.45 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.23. 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 PLC has a 12-month low of $43.44 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The firm has a market cap of $42.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.60.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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 yield of 5.5%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.00.

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.