AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,549,416 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 236,005 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $239,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 30,491 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares during the period. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.4% during the third quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 285,395 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $26,813,000 after purchasing an additional 12,109 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 409.8% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 15,030 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 12,082 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 34.7% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,141 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.0% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 173,304 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $16,282,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities initiated coverage on AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Freedom Broker increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $107.00 to $111.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $118.35.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 4.8%

AU opened at $87.62 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a twelve month low of $73.40 and a twelve month high of $129.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.29. The company has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.72.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The mining company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.22). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 32.63% and a return on equity of 39.17%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.1250 per share. This is a decrease from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 27th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.50%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company that explores for, develops and operates gold mines. Gold is its primary product, and the company also produces silver and other by-products at some operations. The company’s operations and projects span Africa, Australia and the Americas. Its portfolio includes mines and development projects in countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea, Australia, Brazil and Argentina. AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 1998 through the consolidation of gold mining interests held by Anglo American in South Africa.