AngloGold Ashanti Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AU)

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 675,546 call options on the company. This is an increase of 18,337% compared to the typical volume of 3,664 call options.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE:AU traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $104.50. 2,500,421 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,655,182. The business has a 50 day moving average of $105.91 and a 200 day moving average of $85.06. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1-year low of $31.58 and a 1-year high of $129.14. 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 company has a market capitalization of $52.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.55.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 70.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AU. Zacks Research cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.50.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.