Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Makes New Investment in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 161,556 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,570 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.20.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of AU stock opened at $104.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $38.61 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.12.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. On average, analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.173 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

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.