AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Down to $24.80

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.80, but opened at $23.21. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $23.32, with a volume of 591,707 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AU. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $23.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.77 and its 200-day moving average is $19.28.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.03. This represents a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,798,967 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $482,183,000 after buying an additional 898,196 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,743,697 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $312,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215,741 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 312.3% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 6,003,149 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,199,000 after acquiring an additional 4,547,011 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,874,951 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $109,803,000 after acquiring an additional 446,132 shares during the period. Finally, TT International Asset Management LTD raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 3,562,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $66,590,000 after acquiring an additional 995,709 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, the Americas, and Australia. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita project located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.