Creative Planning Grows Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Creative Planning boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,961 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 2,768 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 7.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 27,747,289 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $615,990,000 after buying an additional 1,948,322 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,808,722 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $373,154,000 after purchasing an additional 65,025 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,396,216 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $75,396,000 after buying an additional 181,081 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 24.3% during the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 2,201,551 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $48,874,000 after acquiring an additional 431,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,032,491 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $37,987,000 after purchasing an additional 379,701 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $27.57 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1 year low of $15.60 and a 1 year high of $32.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.