Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Boosts Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 13.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,485 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,604 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter valued at $596,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,424,939 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $26,632,000 after acquiring an additional 492,358 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,874,951 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $109,803,000 after acquiring an additional 446,132 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,396,216 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,396,000 after acquiring an additional 181,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 748.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 45,142 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 39,819 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AU shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.8 %

AU stock opened at $28.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.70. The firm has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.19. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1-year low of $14.91 and a 1-year high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. Research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

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.