AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Holdings Decreased by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,373 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 47,400 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $41,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $13,777,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,139,000. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,523,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 606.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,054 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 11,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 122,885 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $10,556,000 after acquiring an additional 14,673 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lowered their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Roth Capital reduced their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU opened at $79.70 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.50 and its 200-day moving average is $96.57. The stock has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.65. 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 twelve month low of $45.36 and a twelve month high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%.The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. On average, analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.04%.

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.