AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Sold by Barings LLC

Barings LLC cut its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 20.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 428,469 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 110,759 shares during the quarter. AngloGold Ashanti comprises approximately 0.7% of Barings LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Barings LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $41,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $539,119,000 after acquiring an additional 5,047,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth approximately $426,477,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $179,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042,357 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AU shares. Freedom Capital upgraded AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Roth Capital lowered their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $76.30 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $45.36 and a one year high of $129.14. The company has a market cap of $38.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.96.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its 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 return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. On average, research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 68.04%.

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.