AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Purchased by Man Group plc

Man Group plc lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 113.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,363,527 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 726,182 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $116,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter valued at $321,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 106.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 88.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 136,543 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,200,000 after acquiring an additional 64,066 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter worth $1,740,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AU shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective 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 cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $90.78 on Thursday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52-week low of $43.44 and a 52-week high of $129.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.39. 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 (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 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.