Arizona State Retirement System Invests $628,000 in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 8,927 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Optimum Investment Advisors bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 330.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 964 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $92.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 3.1%

AU stock opened at $107.17 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.83. 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 12-month low of $28.44 and a 12-month high of $115.81.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%.The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

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.