Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Stock Position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 622,073 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 67,200 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.15% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $43,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 17.2% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 107,548 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $7,564,000 after buying an additional 15,755 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,067,339 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $215,726,000 after acquiring an additional 766,310 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 12,966 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter worth $344,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,622 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 1.2%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $106.58 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1-year low of $30.19 and a 1-year high of $129.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $104.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%.The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 70.13%.

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.