Diversified Trust Co. Raises Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Diversified Trust Co. boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 99.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,809 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,365 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $2,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AU shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.1%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $85.69 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12 month low of $31.91 and a 12 month high of $129.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $43.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 26.65%.The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.