Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 9.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 622,073 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 67,200 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $43,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after buying an additional 4,577,807 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,767.5% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,788,123 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,027,000 after buying an additional 2,638,823 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,137,721 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $142,986,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300,204 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 2nd quarter valued at $74,039,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,017,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AU shares. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $106.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $104.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.59. The firm has a market cap of $53.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $30.19 and a one year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%. Research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

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