15,000 Shares in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Acquired by Extract Advisors LLC

Extract Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,000 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,460,000. AngloGold Ashanti comprises approximately 0.5% of Extract Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 142 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AU. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Roth Capital cut their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $80.42 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a market capitalization of $40.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.65. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $45.36 and a 52 week high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.04%.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.