Deutsche Bank AG Purchases 191,859 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,121,189 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 191,859 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $436,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth $1,380,472,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth $426,477,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,395,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,186,463 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $357,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 7.1%

Shares of AU opened at $78.44 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1-year low of $43.44 and a 1-year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 68.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.