Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Raises Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 91.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,520 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 6,457 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 27.3% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% in the second 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. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 27.2% during the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,257 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on AU. Citigroup boosted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 10.3%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $115.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $103.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.84. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $29.57 and a 52 week high of $129.14. The stock has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.70%. Equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.173 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.13%.

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.