Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Trims Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. reduced its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,000 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 102,000 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $2,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AU. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 12.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 673,608 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,004,000 after purchasing an additional 73,671 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 19.8% in the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,337,673 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $86,774,000 after purchasing an additional 386,078 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth about $270,000. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 139.6% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 103,365 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,837,000 after buying an additional 60,218 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth about $312,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AU shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AU stock opened at $67.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.18. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $22.45 and a 52 week high of $79.94.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 22.54%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.